The Heir Of Magic ADOPTED
by Draven Skullwise
Summary: Starts at the end of OOTP. Harry has just been told the prophecy after losing Sirius and doesn’t know who to turn to. Someone senses this though and extends a hand to the true heir of magic.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi this is Draven Skullwise here. I have adopted this story as I saw a lot of merit in this story and want to have a go at making a good story out of it. I have tidied it up some, but still if anyone would offer to help me out with speling and such, it wold be appreciated, as I am mainly blind, so when I write it may come out sounding alright to my computer, but the spelling or grammar may be off. Any constructive criticism or encouragement would also be appreciated.

DISCLAIMER: Anything you recognize is most certainly not mine

"The one with the power to vanquish the- Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the Dark Lord

Will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the

Other survives … the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies."

The slowly revolving Professor Trelawney sank back into the silver mass below and vanished.

The silence within the office was absolute. Neither Dumbledore nor Harry nor any of the portraits made a sound. Even Fawkes had fallen silent.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry said very quietly, for Dumbledore, still staring at the Pensieve, seemed completely lost in thought. It... Did that mean …

What did that mean?

"It meant," said Dumbledore, "that the person who has the only chance of conquering Lord Voldemort for good was born at the end of July, nearly sixteen

Years ago. This boy would be born to parents who had already defied Voldemort three times."

Harry felt as though something was closing in on him. His breathing seemed difficult again.

"It means - me?"

Dumbledore surveyed him for a moment through his glasses.

"The odd thing, Harry," he said softly, "is that it may not have meant you at all. Sybill's Prophecy could have applied to two wizard boys, both born at

The end of July that year, both of whom had parents in the Order of the Phoenix, both sets of parents having narrowly escaped Voldemort three times. One,

Of course, were you? The other was Neville Longbottom."

"But then … but then, why was it my name on the prophecy and not Neville's?"

"The official record was re-labeled after Voldemort's attack on you as a child," said Dumbledore. "It seemed plain to the keeper of the Hall of Prophecy

That Voldemort could only have tried to kill you because he knew you to be the one to whom Sybill was referring."

"Then - it might not be me?" said Harry

"I am afraid," said Dumbledore slowly, looking as though every word cost him a great effort, "that there is no doubt that it is you."

"But you said - Neville was born at the end of July, too - and his mum and dad"

"You are forgetting the next part of the prophecy, the final identifying feature of the boy who could vanquish Voldemort … Voldemort himself would mark

Him as his equal. And so he did, Harry He chose you, not Neville. He gave you the scar that has proved both blessing and curse."

"But he might have chosen wrong!" said Harry. "He might have marked the wrong person!"

"He chose the boy he thought most likely to be a danger to him," said Dumbledore. "And notice this, Harry: he chose, not the pureblood (which, according

To his creed, is the only kind of wizard worth being or knowing) but the half-blood, like himself. He saw himself in you before he had ever seen you, and

in marking you with that scar, he did not kill you, as he intended, but gave you powers, and a future, which have fitted you to escape him not once, but

Four times so far - something that neither your parents, nor Neville's parents, ever achieved."

"Why did he do it, then?" said Harry, who felt numb and cold. "Why did he try and kill me as a baby? He should have waited to see whether Neville or I looked

More dangerous when we were older and tried to kill whoever it was then"

"That might, indeed, have been the more practical course," said Dumbledore, "except that Voldemort's information about the prophecy was incomplete. The

Hog's Head inn, which Sybill chose for its cheapness, has long attracted, shall we say, a more interesting clientele than the Three Broomsticks. As you

And your friends found out to your cost, and I to mine that night, it is a place where it is never safe to assure you are not being overheard. Of course,

I had not dreamed, when I set out to meet Sybill Trelawney, that I would hear anything worth overhearing. My - our - one stroke of good fortune was that

The eavesdropper was detected only a short way into the prophecy and thrown from the building."

"So he only heard it?"

"He heard only the beginning, the part foretelling the birth of a boy in July to parents who had thrice defied Voldemort. Consequently, he could not warn

His master that to attack you would be to risk transferring power to you, and marking you as his equal. So Voldemort never knew that there might be danger

In attacking you, that it might be wise to wait, to learn more. He did not know that you would have power the Dark Lord knows not"

"But I don't!" said Harry, in a strangled voice. "I haven't any powers he hasn't got, I couldn't fight the way he did tonight, I can't possess people or

- Or kill them –"

"There is a room in the Department of Mysteries," interrupted Dumbledore, "that is kept locked at all times. It contains a force that is at once more wonderful

And more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than the forces of nature. It is also, perhaps, the most mysterious of the many subjects for study

That resides there. It is the power held within that room that you possess in such quantities and which Voldemort has not at all. That power took you to

Save Sirius tonight. That power also saved you from possession by Voldemort, because he could not bear to reside in a body so full of the force he detests.

In the end, it mattered not that you could not close your mind. It was your heart that saved you."

Harry closed his eyes. If he had not gone to save Sirius, Sirius would not have died… More to stave off the moment when he would have to think of Sirius

Again, Harry asked, without caring much about the answer, "The end of the prophecy… it was something about… neither can live…"

"… While the other survives," said Dumbledore.

"So," said Harry, dredging up the words from what felt like a deep well of despair inside him,

"So does that mean that… that one of us has got to kill the other one… in the end?"

"Yes," said Dumbledore.

For a long time, neither of them spoke. Somewhere far beyond the office walls, Harry could hear the sound of voices, students heading down to the Great

Hall for an early breakfast, perhaps. It seemed impossible that there could be people in the world who still desired food, who laughed, who neither knew

nor cared that Sirius Black was gone for ever. Sirius seemed a million miles away already; even now a part of Harry still believed that if he had only

pulled back that veil, he would have found Sirius looking back at him, greeting him, perhaps, with his laugh like a bark…

"I feel I owe you another explanation, Harry," said Dumbledore hesitantly. "You may, perhaps, have wondered why I never chose you as a prefect. I must confess…

that I rather thought…you had enough responsibility to be going on with."

Harry looked up at him and saw a tear trickling down Dumbledore's face into his long silver beard.

Harry turned to leave the office in a haze, but when he was about to grasp open the door he noticed the Sorting Hat out of the corner of his eye, it appeared

to be looking at him with what could be described as a patronizing gaze if that was possible for a hat.

Suddenly the hat's words leapt in his head "You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness,

no doubt about that"

Walking away from the office, Harry thought about the change in his life before and after Hogwarts, he was so different from the rushing Gryffindor he became

lately, he used to think stuff over before acting, what made the change in him?

Too lost in thought Harry wandered aimlessly in the halls until unknowingly he stood in front of the Room Of Requirements

His mind was a jumble of thoughts, his friends and how they'll take their first real battle, death eaters, Voldemort, Dumbledore, his past, his dead godfather,

and finally the Prophecy.

It made another weight on his shoulders, as if it wasn't enough to barely survive Voldemort and his followers on a yearly basis; he had to be the one to

defeat him.

His life consisted of misery after another, just when he thought he couldn't take anymore, Dumbledore just had to throw the Prophecy his way.

It seemed this time the light was desperate enough to thrust the war on the shoulders of fifteen years old boy that only held luck.

"Damn it all, if I have to fight I'll fight. I just can't do it on my own" Harry screamed in his mind "Either the light helps me, or the world is doomed

to darkness, I can't take it all by myself"

Harry knew deep down that if push came to shove his friends won't help him prepare, they follow Dumbledore too blindly to see he was weakening Harry. But

he just couldn't stand still and watch his parents' murderer take over the world.

Unseen by Harry a door appeared out of no where, where the door to the ROR usually appeared.

It was rather peculiar in appearance as it was pure white with the Hogwarts crest on it.

When it seemed that Harry was about to leave , the door started glowing and emitted what sounded like a phoenix song, that pulled Harry out of his thoughts

and made him look to see where he was standing, just to find out he was where he used to call forth the Room Of Requirement.

He grasped open the door to see what the room had to offer him this time, since he didn't remember asking it for anything.

Opening the door Harry looked inside and froze in shock, for standing there in front of him stood a woman that looked a lot like his deceased mother only

older.

She held an aura of power that dwarfed what Dumbledore showed not long ago when dueling Voldemort, he was about to flee in fear but he looked in her eyes,

they were forest green color that emitted such warmth that he'd have fell in her embrace crying, had he not restrained himself.

Deciding that a woman whose eye held such warmth couldn't be unfriendly, he approached her uncertainly and asked "E-Excuse me ma'am, who are you?"

"Ease your fears child, I mean you no harm" she replied in a musical voice that reminded him of Fawkes, "Who I am, is not important at this time, but fear

not you'll know soon enough." Suddenly a box appeared out of thin air, she took it and handed it to him "take this box child and tell no one of it, open

it only when you leave Hogwarts and once you've gone through its contents, I'll find you. Farewell my child" she smiled at him and then vanished leaving

an empty room in her wake.

Harry looked at the box in hands, it was the size of a shoe box, mahogany brown, light, and had the strangest set of drawings on it.

For arranged in groups all around the surface were different sets of strange looking runes, he only recognized what looked like a set of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

But the most curious part was the center drawing; it looked like the Hogwarts crest divided vertically with an emerald green lightening bolt that looked

like his scar, below that were a staff and a sword crossed in V shape.

Deciding he should go to his dorm, he wondered where he could hide it, as if sensing his thoughts the box shrank to the size of a match box. Deciding that

the magical world contained all kinds of oddities; Harry didn't let it disturb him much. He put the shrank box in his robe pocket and went to get some sleep.

Over the next few weeks, Harry tried to deal with his grief, but found it impossible. He found that his talk with Luna helped him immensely and he felt a bond with her, even if he had no idea what the bond itself meant. He also felt great despair after talking to Sir Nick, as he knew now that Sirius has probably left the world forever. It was a resigned Harry that boarded the Hogwarts Express, returning once more to his own personal living hell, now it was only so much more with the isolation he was going to endure.


	2. Chapter 2

It felt like only seconds ago; Harry was standing with his friends at Kings Cross while they "talked" with the Dursleys.

Now back at 4 Privet Drive. Harry left to bring in his trunk that he had featherweight charmed by Professor Flitwick while leaving and Hedwig's cage. She

was flying back and told to wait until night to return as that pleased both her and his relatives. Hurrying to his bedroom, where he sat looking at nothing.

Still unable to acknowledge Sirius' death, Harry dealt with it the only way he could, given the circumstances. Denial, he just did not think of Sirius

with the entire jumble of thoughts currently in his mind.

Harry was startled out of his thoughts by a loud shout from his uncle, "Boy, down here now!"

He half-heartedly answered, "Yes Uncle Vernon."

Slowly going down, he found the Dursleys' sitting in the living room waiting for him, his uncle looked like he would blow an artery from the color showing

on his face. "So you think you can tell those freaks we were mistreating you and get away with it do you?"

Harry answered calmly, "I didn't tell anyone about how I live here, Uncle. They just assumed on their own."

"And what do you expect to happen now, boy?"

"The normal ignore I even exist but with a few slight changes. I will still do all the indoor chores as normal. The outdoor ones however I will do only

if you pay me 5 pounds a day and an extra portion of food. On the other hand, we can forget about the payment if Dudley does as much work as I do. I'll

continue to help with all meals, but breakfast will be the only meal I'll eat with you all others I won't."

At the mention of chores, Dudley gave a pitiful whimper and said, "Mummy, I won't have to do chores, will I?"

"Of course not duddykums, he'll still have to do them all if he wants any food." While giving Harry a withering glare that did not even faze him.

"Perhaps you don't understand Aunt Petunia; I fully expect my payment before I touch a single thing. Otherwise I'll have to contact my friends about mistreatment,

right?"

Vernon face was almost bordering on purple, but at the mention of Harry's friends, it paled. "Alright boy, I'll accept your deal and see where this leads,

however note that if the assigned work isn't perfect. You will be grounded for weeks to come; even your kind won't be able to save you from that."

Harry, knowing Dumbledore will not send him aid unless Harry sent them his blood in a letter, answered truthfully, "Yes Uncle Vernon."

"Now go to your room, boy."

Harry felt quite pleased with the way he handled his relatives. They expected him to be angry and force him to submission like every other time he could

remember. By being calm, he threw them off balance and got them to submit to his demands without much resistance.

He decidedto unpack a little to settle in, however when he opened his trunk, all thoughts of unpacking left. The strange box that the lady in the Room Of

Requirement gave him was sitting full size on top of his clothes.

He stared at the box blankly before picking it up, and moving over to Dudley's old desk. After scanning it for a while, Harry touched the crest on top,

which made a tingly feeling move up his arm, in a way that made him feel like he was being measured. After the tingle receded, it opened with a soft pop

to reveal a sealed letter; it had a crest the same as the box, except it was missing the lightening bolt in the middle. Removing the letter Harry noticed

the box looked shallower than it should be.

Opening the letter he notices it was written in a very elegant handwriting, it read:

To you Child who reads this

We give you our sympathy.

The greatest seer of all time, Morgana, has made a prophecy, the exact words we don't know, but in essence it tells about a hero, known as The Heir of Magic,

he is to be chosen as heir to the greatest of the magical races of all time not by blood, but because of his deeds.

This hero will be raised with all what bring darkness to the world, manipulated and betrayed by his most trusted. In addition, in the moment when the strongest

of wills would succumb to the darkness, he will stand tall and fight for his believes. It will be then that he begins the journey to claim his heritage,

comforted and mentored by Her. The prophecy did not tell us who this ' Her is, neither did it tell us when you will come to be.

Knowing that prophecies are told in front of those who will play into making them happen, we knew that we were to help you prepare for your destiny. Therefore,

we made this box for you and a ritual to deliver it to the Goddess of Magic. We know it worked and the goddess gave it to your mentor since you are reading

this letter now.

Now to those races that have choose you as their heir, they are humans, elves, druids, goblins, werewolves, dwarfs, and others, just know that you earned

it by yourself not by your birthright. Be proud of yourself.

The prophecy says your mentor will have your mother's essence in her, and adopt you as her child. Train with and open up to her child.

For every part of your heritage you master go to Gringotts, the goblins have agreed to keep your heritage until you claim it.

We, child, are the founders of Hogwarts and Merlin. We request you to marry at least four wives to help keep our lines since our own children will not be

declared heirs.

Make sure you get married to at least two of them before you reach 17.

Helga Hufflebuff.

P.S. Work through the contents of the box until you meet your mentor.

Harry was beyond shocked by all this; did he just read what he thought he read? One look at the letter told him he did, but really, the leaders of all magical

races? It was insane.

Then it dawned on him how similar he and Riddle actually were, both lived lives full of darkness, but when it came to points that mattered, Riddle chose

to let the basilisk loose to kill the muggle born children while he got in and killed it.

Riddle chooses to wallow about his past while Harry chooses to look to the future for love and peace.

With these thoughts in mind Harry laid in bed and fell asleep as soon as he touched the pillow, just when his dreams were about to take a bad turn. The

Lady who gave him the box appeared and began run her hand through his hair while singing a soothing song in low voice that turned his dreams in peaceful

ones. "Sleep well my child, you deserve it."

Harry woke with a peaceful feeling that he could not remember ever experiencing.

His dream last night made him feel strange, he dreamt of five female together with him lounging. Moreover, this had instilled a sense of peace and happiness

in his heart he had never felt to this level before. He had felt a similar feeling around Hermione and occasionally around Tonks. However, he did not know

what to call this feeling.

Shaking that thought for now, Harry started thinking about his mentor and he wondered how she could find it in her heart to carry another woman's essence,

let alone to help him. That reminded him that we needed to work thru the contents of the box while waiting his mentor. Glancing at the box, he remembered

it only had a letter yesterday. Harry was surprise when he lifted the lid to find another note along with about four books.

Note:

Child, to be ready for the arrival of your mentor, read the beginnings of these books.

Helga Hufflebuff

Harry was intrigued, looking at the book titles he found,

Manipulated, betrayed, and mistreated? Make your own life. By Salazar Slytherin

They think you are a fool, Sharpen your mind. By Rowena Ravenclaw.

Know thy enemy Rubbish, Unite with yourself first with the sacred art of mediation. By Helga Hufflebuff

The fighters book of fighting. Godric Gryffindor (1)

'Man these books are just what I need' Harry thought to himself, 'I'll write to Sirius to ...'

That thought alone release all the welled up grieve and guilt he had been suppressing. It all exploded and flooded to the front of his mind, leaving him

broken down on the ground crying loudly in anguish for all the lost in his life. So lost in his grief Harry did not notice the air shift around him, or

the woman watching at him, until she encircled him in her arms from the front. Not used to any kind of affection, he tensed up immediately and looked up

to see a warm set of green eyes and a sad smile. She spoke to him in calming voice "It's alright, child. Let it all out, it will help you find your peace."

Not needing any more invitation, Harry threw himself in her comforting embrace and cried with abandon, as she continued to rub his back, and spoke soothing

words until he calmed down and fell asleep in her arms. With little difficulty, she put him in bed and tucked him in. Hearing a noise, she turned to the

door to find a shocked and fearful Petunia standing in the doorway.

Petunia had gone up to the boy's room to demand he quiet his cries, to make sure not to wake her precious son and husband since they sleep in on Sundays.

Upon opening the door, she found what looked like an older version of her deceased sister calming the boy.

Only after the mystery woman had tucked in the boy and turned to her, did Petunia noticed that the only difference from her sister, was this woman had forest

green eyes instead of brilliant emerald that Lily had. The woman spoke four words before disappearing and these made her shake in fear "Leave my child

alone."


	3. Chapter 3

In order to make your own life, first you have to know the points you were manipulated at, who did this, how they did it and why. After that you'll have

To figure out what you're other options at that point, and how it affected your life.

After you know all about that, you'll begin to realize how to make your life yours.

The first step to do that is to manage to review your life from a third person's point of view.

Harry smiled as he looked up from Slytherin's book, he could remember waking up this afternoon wondering how he ended up in bed, but pushing it aside as

He was feeling more rested then he could ever remember.

Feeling famished, he went down to the kitchen to grab some food. On the table he found a large meal worthy of Dudley, when he was seven, along with a note

That read: leave something and you're grounded for a week.

He of course was more than happy to comply. Finishing his meal, he washed the dishes and went back to his room. He found Hedwig had arrived; she perched

on Harry's shoulder and nipped his ear lovingly, he talked to her for a while then figured that now was as good time as any to send his letter to the Order.

Hey birds

All is quiet around here; they are awfully tolerant to me.

Listen I think I need correspondence with my friends this summer so don't even think about reducing my mail, I don't want to know anything about you so

Don't fret.

I could really do without direct human contact for the time being.

Write more in three days

H. J. Potter.

Giving the letter to Hedwig along with an owl treat, he returned to his reading.

Not many people can be objective when reviewing their own life, that's why a mentor is needed to help the student see the missing points of view.

It's not recommended to continue reading till you have reviewed a good portion of your life's events. Till then you may want to practice other

Arts to help get a better grip on your mind and emotions.

Harry tried to recall parts of his life, but every time a sour memory came up he'd lose control and feel like either crying or destroying something. Feeling

He'd have to wait till his emotions were a little more under control and his memory a little more detailed. He decided to grab some dinner and call it

An early night then see what the other books had to offer tomorrow.

In the kitchen he found the same amount of food with the same note beside it.

He had a very strange nightmare this night, the usual about that night in the ministry except that Bellatrix had a blank look on her face and a single tear

On her cheek.

He couldn't ponder on it long though, because Remus started to yell at him for killing Sirius.

The next morning he woke up in a very sad mood compared to the day before. The nightmare had haunted him; did Remus really blame him for the death of Sirius?

He dearly hoped not, he needed the werewolf in his life.

He went downstairs to nick a bite and shower, and then he went back up to his room to read.

The sacred art of meditation helps those who practice it to gain the ultimate control over their emotions. Their final goal is to become one with their

Inner selves. In the end the scholar will be accepting to all that comes in their way calmly and without prejudice.

Harry looked at the book with hope in his eyes, it promised him of something he truly missed since he joined Hogwarts, thinking before acting. One would

wonder if he would have survived all the years with the Dursleys if he had the same attitude he took since he attended Hogwarts.

Thinking of that made him think of Hagrid, his first magical contact. Hermione once told him that the first contact with muggle born or raised students

had to be done by a fully qualified wizard or witch, hers being professor McGonagall. But Hagrid wasn't, he let it go for now and decided to question it

later.

The first step of meditation is to learn how to clear your mind. To do that you'll have to follow these steps.

One: find a comfortable position to sit and relax.

Harry chose to sit cross legged with his back to the wall.

Two: close your eyes and hold your hands in your lap with fingers interlaced.

Three: concentrate only on your breathing, count it and try not to think of anything else.

The clear state of mind is reached when you only hear your breathing.

Each time you do this something will distract you till you mastered that exercise. First it'll be the sound of your heartbeats. It'll take you longer and

longer to be distracted till you can hold your mind clear for as long as you like.

It's advisable to eat a hearty meal before this exercise since you don't know how long you'll take trying it, and so that hunger won't distract you.

Harry's mind was reeling in thought, if these instructions were true, then Snape instead of teaching him the basics of clearing his mind; he did all his

power to distract him. Why? And why even when Voldemort broke into his mind he didn't feel as violated as he did with Snape? He clearly hoped that Rowena's

book will give him some answers.

He continued practicing meditation till he felt the need to sleep and went over to his bed. His dreams that night consisted of a mix between those five

women who made him feel warm, and the look on Bellatrix's face right after she killed Sirius. Harry awoke this time feeling very confused, who were those five women? And why was he dreaming of Bellatrix Lestrange of all people? More important, why

did she look like she was under Imperius?

Looking at the clock, he was surprised to find it was only four o'clock. Deciding it was too early for breakfast or Rowena's book, he decided to see what

Godric's book had to offer.

He turned to his desk and touched the book to lift it, suddenly, in a flash of light, the book was gone. Looking frantically around the room, he noticed

an increasing glow at one corner. He grabbed his wand and went cautiously to investigate the glow which by now reached the size of an adult man. The glowfaded

suddenly and in its place was a man. He was tall, may be like Dumbledore, looked like in his forties, with long black hair that reached just past his shoulders

and piercing blue eyes. He was dressed in a strange looking shimmering roe in red and gold with a blood red cloak that was fastened with a golden phoenix

necklace.

Harry looked at the man in no small amount of fear. He could feel power rolling off him, though it seemed the man was in control.

In a deep voice the man asked, "Who are you child, and how did someone your age come by this book?"

Harry hesitantly replied, "I-I'm Harry Potter, sir. I found this book in a box that was given to me."

The man looked thoughtful, "Given to you, you say? Tell me child, how old are you?"

Harry replied, "Sixteen in about two months sir"

This reply angered the man, "Don't lie child, you don't look a day older than thirteen."

Harry too was getting angry, "I'm not lying, sir, you can be sure of that. If you don't believe me then it is your problem, I'm not the one who stole your

book then barged into your room demanding answers left and right. Who are you anyway?"

The man looked deep inside Harry's eyes and was astounded at the amount of determination and maturity displayed in them. He was more astounded that his

eyes looked so old, like they had seen what no child his age should have seen ever. He suddenly smiled and said, "That's the spirit, never fear to stand

up for your self if you're right. Anyway, I'm Godric Gryffindor, well the projection of him at any rate. In essence, I'm the book. This book was made by

the elven warriors, millennia ago to help train the warriors over the time. The projection that trains you is who you subconsciously think of as the ultimate

hero. I'm to help teach you the arts of fighting whether unarmed, armed or magical. Before we start anything we have to get you in better shape first.

You don't appear a day over thirteen as I said. You don't look anything like what the heir of magic should, and to think you have to marry four women.

You'd be lucky that a female Blast Ended Skrewt let you close enough to touch it let alone marry it." He teased Harry and seemed to enjoy it a lot, "give

me your hand"

Harry was madly blushing when he gave his hand to Godric, in a flash of light they appeared standing in a large green field.

"We're now inside the book, Harry. Here you'll be trained in the arts of fighting.

For every hour that passes in your room a day will pass here, the only activity you're allowed is to train and nothing else, no reading, sleeping or anything.

You'll not age while you're here but you'll retain any physical changes you achieve. Now the peculiar thing about this book is that your energy stores

will return to the same level after you leave the book as you entered it with.

That said you can only train for five hours a day, which means five days in here. You'll have to exit the book after every day you spend in here for five

minute so you can recharge your body and reassert your mind. Just remember to eat a good dinner before you sleep so you'll be able to perform better. Now

let's start getting you in shape."

With that he instructed Harry on some stretching exercises then had him do laps around the field, while teaching him how to breathe properly in order to

last longer while exercising.

When Harry had his first break he spent the whole five minute cursing Gryffindor and anything that belonged to him including red and gold colors, even though

he got his energy back he was still sore and aching all over. Once the time was up he touched the book which had rematerialized on his disk and was gone

in a flash of light. This continued for four more times till it was 9:30, time for breakfast. Harry could barely move from the pain in his body, he thought

that all the pain was worth it if it gave him an edge over Voldemort and his followers, the added publicity with the girls won't be amiss either.

Sure that the Dursleys must have finished breakfast and gone on their business for the day by now, he forced himself to go down to the kitchen. He found

a large breakfast waiting with a note that said "do the laundry and make lunch" along with a list of what they wanted for lunch. Harry smiled at that.

It seemed that Aunt Petunia still hasn't improved her cooking skills which he had surpassed at the age of 7.

So he ate his breakfast, washed the dishes, and then did the laundry. Deciding that such large amount of food needed a long time to prepare, he started

setting the ingredients and making the food, he decided he'd make the lunch and heat it when they were ready to eat.

After finishing cooking he headed upstairs and took a shower then went to his room to change. Just then he heard uncle Vernon's car pull up so he went down

again to serve the lunch. When his uncle entered the kitchen he had his usual scowl on his face upon seeing Harry even though Harry saw the hidden joy

in his eyes at the thought of eating Harry's cooking again.

Harry made himself a plate and made to go to his room to eat, but was stopped as his uncle cleared his throat, "You can sit and eat with us, Boy"

Harry instantly became suspicious but sat down anyway. After lunch Harry washed the dishes while his aunt made tea for uncle Vernon. She said, "Finish what

you are doing then join us in the living room."

Harry entered the living room and found his aunt and uncle watching T.V. he cleared his throat to gain their attention, his uncle turned to him and his

eyes narrowed, "Sit down, boy. We need to talk"

His aunt said, "Your uncle and I agreed to make a deal with you, if you do yard work every day for two hours besides the normal house work, except for Sundays,

I'll take you to the mall to get you new clothes."

Harry's eyes widened, and then narrowed, "Why, what's the catch?"

His uncle answered him, "We have some very important visitors that'll join us for the weekend on the 29th. Unfortunately their daughter knew you from primary

school and expects to see you. I will not have you looking like a street gangster in my house"

Harry now understood what they needed; he thought about it for a little then said, "Alright, I agree. But, aunt Petunia, please can we make that trip later

on? Like on the 25th, you see I expect to hit a growth spurt soon and it's kind of unpredictable for boys of our kind. So that I won't have to throw them

away" he said knowing that the growth spurt was faked, but he couldn't tell her that he'd have spent close to 90 days training physically by then.

She replied, "Fine, you start tomorrow, once you finish, you are free for the rest of the day."

Harry went up to his room intent on finding what Rowena had to say about the mind arts.

The mind arts are not only to make you able to defend your mind, and maybe attack others' minds. They are a whole branch that can help you improve the way

you use your mind.

The weakest form of mind arts is Occlumency, which is the art that helps you prevent your external thoughts from being displayed on your face, or to be

detected by a Ligilimens. Contrary to popular belief, Occlumency doesn't protect the mind from intentional Ligilimency attacks.

The first step to learn Occlumency is to learn how to clear your mind and hold the clear state for long, like an hour.

Then you should focus on separating your mind into two different layers, the first one is the clear layer, then one should hold no thoughts at all; or at

most, the thoughts you want detected by the Ligilimens. The inner layer will hold your real thoughts.

No one was ever able to learn Occlumency through direct Ligilimency attacks, only after they lose hope and start training by themselves, should they be

able to master Occlumency.

That said; it's only natural to assume that those who teach Occlumency by attacking the student are only intent on Mind raping them. This means they search

for their worst memories for their own sick pleasure. That's why it's a must to learn Occlumency from someone you completely trust or from a book.

Harry felt like breaking something. Snape and Dumbledore had caused him more damage and grief with the lessons than Voldemort ever did.

He didn't know what to think anymore. Harry felt completely betrayed; he wondered how much more he will discover along the way. One thing for sure, he'll

put Salazar's book to full use even if it meant being marked as a dark wizard.

He definitely was light sided, but fighting fire with fire didn't mean he was evil. If killing a Death Eater meant saving the lives he would have taken

otherwise, then what was wrong about it?

He heard a hoot and saw Hedwig giving him a look akin to approval, he wondered about her and how they seemed to understand each other so well, maybe she

was magical. He'd ask the owl shop owner for a book about her species next time he went to the alley. He went back to Rowena's book.

After you mastered clearing your mind, you need to start this next exercise.

Take a piece of clothing and hold it in your right hand, once you reach the clear mind state, start feeling the fabric with your thumb.

This will take you back to almost square one for it'll break your concentration, try it again till you can memorize the feeling of the fabric while still

holding a clear mind state. You can move to the next exercise after this is completed.

Harry closed the book intent in mastering what he read so far in the books before going any further.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Ok everyone; this is where I take my leap of faith and start writing myself. I'll be using the text from the original story but will be adding somewhat to it and hopefully improving just a little and adding my own personal touch to it. Thanks to those people who have offered to be my betas. Let me just explain to you guys. I am legally blind, therefore I can't read graphics. The e-mail addresses on people's profiles are actually in graphic mode, so I can't read them so I can't e-mail anyone back and send them chapters for example if they have offered to be my beta. So if you have been so kind to offer, please send me another message with your e-mail, perhaps put a space between each section so that it's not blocked out. All constructive criticism appreciated.

Chapter 4

'The legend of the Heir of Hogwarts is one of the more unbelievable legends surrounding the history of Hogwarts. All experts from around the world agree that the myth of the Heir of Hogwarts is so fantastic that it must be impossible.'

Hermione Granger was having a bad holiday so far. She had been told by her parents that they were not going on vacation this year, so she had nothing to do but read. Normally this would have made her happy, but this year was different.

She was still recovering from the Department of Mysteries. She winced slightly as she shifted in her seat and felt the tenderness of her ribs. She at least, had stopped taking the daily potions that Madame Pomfrey had given her, now it was just time to fully heal.

Her injuries brought her back to thinking about Harry, her one true friend and perhaps more, if she was honest with herself. She had had a crush on both of the boys since third year, but ad not wanted to destroy their friendship by selecting one over the other. She had been enormously disappointed that neither had asked her to the Tri-Wizard Yule ball, but realized that Ron was just too dense to realize that he liked her until he saw her that night dressed the way she was. Harry, she realized, probably knew of Ron's infatuation with her and being the noble guy he was, would not stand in his best friend's way. She also thought perhaps that Harry was also scared of losing one of his first friends if he made a move and she did not reciprocate.

Her view on all of this had altered somewhat last year though when she, along with Ron had secretly joined the Order of the Phoenix. She had been shocked that Harry had not joined along with them and for this, she felt enormously guilty. Ron, on the other hand, showed his true colors once more. His jealousy once more surfaced with the smug satisfaction that he had been chosen over Harry. This disgusted her so much that she lost any feelings of affection she had had for the red-headed boy.

Far from feeling that Harry had been out of control for his out bursts during the year, Hermione felt that Harry was fully entitled to be enraged at the treatment he had been subjected to. She had really questioned his treatment first when she had heard about the Dementor attack upon Harry and his cousin. If Dumbledore's blood wards were so strong, then how was this attack able to happen in the first place? She thought he was probably better off with them at Grimmold Place, instead of with his abusive relatives, especially after the death of Cedric Diggory. Throughout the whole year Dumbledore kept having meetings with them insisting it was to see if Harry was stable enough emotionally to join the order. Hermione now thought they were updates on what Harry was doing and she now thought their role for the headmaster was as a spy on Harry, rather than as anything useful for the war effort.

Now that she had been told by Dumbledore that she and Ron were to take up training to become proper order members in July, she had grave doubts about the headmaster and Ron. She had no doubts about Harry at all, especially after she had heard about Harry's reaction after Dolohov had attacked her at the Department. Neville had confided in her after she had woken up as he felt it was his duty to inform Hermione as he knew that Harry was never likely to admit his reaction. Hermione was warmed by his reaction as it verified what she had hoped about Harry for a long time.

'Now,' she thought to herself 'It's time I tell him what's going on and, if he forgives me, I'll tell him.'

'The legend entails that the Heir will come from a family of important ancestry. He will face hardships that could break most men, yet he will remain true.

When his life is at the farthest depths of all his misery Hogwarts, will be there for him and will choose him as her heir, He will become the strongest

Magical being on earth. '

Ginny Weasley read this passage carefully and once more thought of the raven haired boy that she knew without a doubt she was in love with. She had told Hermione the truth when she had told her she was over her silly crush with the boy who lived. She instead had fallen head over heels in love with the real Harry. She knew she owed him so much when he had saved her life and if she didn't know any differently, which she didn't, she would think she was reading about Harry with this Heir of Hogwarts. She also knew of the duplicity of his two friends throughout the year, but knew also that while Ron's was intentional, that Hermione's duplicity was actually manipulated by Dumbledore. She had never trusted the headmaster since her first year, when Tom had confided in her the fact that Dumbledore knew about his own abusive background at the orphanage but did not stand up for him with the headmaster at the time to let him stay at the school. It was Tom's treatment at the orphanage, along with his father's betrayal, which caused him to release the Basilisk, to get his revenge on the muggles he saw had caused him nothing but pain from the get go.

It was time to write to Harry, she decided. She would tell him everything she knew as well as give him a subtle hint about her own feelings and see what he did. His reaction would, hopefully, be what she wanted it to be. Thinking this, she continued reading…

'The Legend of the Heir of Hogwarts, started after the death of the great seer Morgana. It is rumored that on her deathbed, she had the prophecy about the

Heir in the presence of the Founder of Hogwarts; upon hearing this, they traveled the world searching for the knowledge needed to retrieve an unknown

Artifact.'

….

Luna Lovegood closed the large tome in front of her with a sigh after reading the last passage with a sigh. No matter what she did, she could not get the thoughts of a green eyed, raven haired boy from her mind; not that she was complaining. Apart from her father, Harry was the only person who tolerated her. He seemed to make an effort to understand the real her and the logic behind what she said.

She had the façade of the dreamy eyed weird girl down to a tea. It was the perfect defense for her against the rest of the world; being able to hold the rest of the world at arms length, just the way she wanted it. It never worked that way with Harry right from the start. He seemed to see right through the mask she had carefully worn after the death of her mother, which had affected her so badly and see the real her with apparently no effort. Perhaps he saw a kindred spirit in her and could relate somehow, she thought.

She clearly saw how angry, confused and distraught Harry was the night of the leaving feast; it was all there in his eyes. It took all of her considerable self control not to take the young man into her arms and tell him that everything would be alright. She came to a decision right there and then. She would help Harry no matter what it took. With this thought, she rose from her bed and went in search of a quill and parchment to tell him.

….

…The suspect ran into Nocturne Alley and disapparated.

N. Tonks.

Tonks sighed as she finished writing up her report for the day on a suspect she had tried to apprehend during her watch on Diagon Alley. She was quite unhappy these days for a number of reasons. Firstly, her favorite relative had been murdered during a battle at the Ministry and had been killed by her Aunt, no less. When she saw how the death had affected Harry on the platform at the end of the school year, it broke her heart to see the great sadness and the burden that seemed to weigh upon his shoulders.

Tonks was no fool and she knew that Harry had some major part to play in this war. She had known that the prophecy they were guarding was about Voldemort and Harry and guessed that it had to do with Harry being the one to destroy Voldemort once and for all. What she did not understand though was the way Dumbledore was treating the young man. For someone so vital to the war effort, Dumbledore was keeping Harry in the dark too much and leaving him dangerously weak, although from the Department of Mysteries and from what Sirius had told her previously, Harry was doing an excellent job of not only training himself, but also a small army of loyal friends, ; training that allowed them to last as long as they did with Voldemort's inner circle fighting them and still coming away from the fight with no fatalities, only conditions that could be easily healed with a bit of time.

Tonks also knew that she was falling for Harry and fast. It had begun Christmas of the previous year and despite the age difference she knew without a doubt that the feelings she had for Harry were real. She had tried to deny it; instead dating a lot of other guys to convince her she was feeling for Harry was just normal attraction. This theory would work fine as well, until her talent was brought up that was usually when the date went to hell, or her date got hexed. That was when it was strikingly clear to Tonks the difference between her dates and Harry. Harry the first time he had met and found out she was a metamorphmagus, has asked only if someone cold learn the skill, not for her to change into something other than what she was. He always seemed happy with whatever she looked like and always treated her as a friend and equal, not a potential toy to play with like everyone else did.

Speaking of manipulation, she thought to herself that also brought up more upsetting thoughts about Dumbledore. She knew he had been a great leader of the light for many years and was quite powerful, but she also knew that Dumbledore also had the power to get Sirius a trial first when he was arrested, but also when he managed to escape. He did not, however and Tonks began to wonder if this also related to Harry in some way as Sirius was Harry's magical guardian and should have been by all rights, from what Sirius had told her, his legal guardian as well. All of her Hufflepuff instincts told her that something smelled about Dumbledore and to put her faith in Harry. Deciding she needed to do something about this, she left her office and went to search out Remus before taking on any course of action.

….

Narcissa Malfoy was terrified out of her mind. She had just found out only a couple of days ago that her head of house Black, Sirius, had been killed and this left her with no recourse whatsoever. She had been hoping to have Sirius annul her marriage to Lucius as head of house Black, but that was no longer possible, which left her in her own personal form of hell.

Lucius was not only manipulative and abusive, he was also sterile. He had stolen their now son and performed a blood adoption ritual to adopt baby Drako into their family. He had then forced her to also perform the adoption and to change her hair color to not make things seem odd about Drako's appearance.

The problem with the blood adoption though, was that it essentially produced a perfect carbon copy of the older version of their gender that adopted them. Thus Drako was so similar to his father that she held no feelings for the boy at all. She personally had been quite smug to find Drako in the state he was in on the Hogwarts Express only days before. She knew from his mutterings and cursing under his breath that occurred almost constantly since that time that Potter and his friends had been responsible for it. She also knew that Potter was not the boy that Drako and Lucius had portrayed to her previously. Far from being the foolish, arrogant and idiotic boy she had been told about, Potter seemed to be quite the opposite if recent events were to be believed. Such a boy as Drako and Lucius had described would not have been able to defeat a group of the highest ranking Death Eaters twice their number and come out relatively unscathed, while the Death Eaters had all been caught, save her sister, and sent to prison.

She knew that the only alternatives now for her sanctuary were Dumbledore and Potter. Dumbledore, she knew though, was not to be trusted. He had not managed to free Sirius, even though she knew he could have if he had wanted to as she knew the political power Dumbledore could wield. She also knew that Dumbledore was manipulative, since as a Ravenclaw, her skills in research were unmatched and she had followed closely the events that had occurred at Hogwarts over the years that her son had attended. She knew there was no way that a first year, no matter how brilliant, could have beaten three traps meant for the dark lord and then defeat the dark lord himself, if they were not meant to. She also knew that Dumbledore had been teaching at the time of the first opening of the Chamber of Secrets and knew he would have had suspicions about the dark lord from the beginning, so the culprit would have been easy to trace, had he tried, which he obviously had not. Instead he had waited for second years to find the chamber and kill the monster within, rescuing the Weasley girl in the process and ruining her husband's reputation in the process; something which still had her laughing to herself to this day.

Narcissa knew what she must do. She had to convince Potter that he could use her services and in exchange, he would help her from her dilemma. He could be powerful, she knew, if only he took control and stood up for himself. She did not know Harry Potter though, she knew. There was a world of difference from the person portrayed in the rumors and stories and the individual, she well knew. Only time would tell if she could pledge her loyalty to this young man she decided.

….

Belatrix Lestrange lived in a world of pain and torment, thanks to her failure to retrieve the prophecy from the Department of Mysteries. The dark lord had seen fit to remove both the loyalty and Imperius curses from her and then to remind her of the terrible crimes she had committed under them followed by long stretches of time under the Cruciatus curse. What was crueler was his final act. He had told her that she could escape at any time she wished and had gone as far as ordering all Death Eaters to allow her to escape. What prevented her was the additional ward he had erected around his fortress, specifically targeted to her, should she leave. It would essentially remove any traces of the Imperius and loyalty enchantments from her body and mind, leaving her defenseless, should she ever receive a trial. The only way she knew she could negate this, she had found after extensive research, was the blood of either the dark lord of Harry Potter.

She knew Potter had no reason to help her. She had seen the pure white hot rage and pain that had suffused his face as he chased her up to the Atrium. The look in his eyes broke her heart and had given her the strength to break the Imperius, but the loyalty enchantments had forced to keep firing spells at him. She didn't know if he would help her, but knew he was her only hope.

….

Albus Dumbledore was not a happy person. Two weeks before he had told the Potter boy the prophecy and said boy then promptly then destroyed most of his priceless magical items, including the items which monitored his movements and kept a damper on his power. The boy was way too powerful for his own good; he had nearly melted the device that dampened his magic when he conjured his first patronus in third year. Dumbledore knew the boy had the potential to destroy the carefully constructed society Dumbledore had created since his defeat of Grindlewald and even had the potential to become an even more powerful dark lord than Tom, even with the power block he had put on him as a small child. He was vastly relieved that Black did not have enough time to influence the boy too much before he died. Now that Potter was alone again he had sent him directly back to his relatives, so they could break him some more, physically and emotionally and make him even more manageable in the future.

It was at this point that his Phoenix, Fawkes appeared in a flash of fire and landed on his desk. It had only been a few days since the creature had recovered from eating a death curse at the Ministry and Dumbledore smiled at his companion and said

"Ah Fawkes, please sing for me a little to soothe this man's frayed nerves."

Fawkes looked deep into Dumbledore's eyes for a moment and then chirped, as if talking to the aged headmaster. He chirped once more and then rising disappeared in a ball of flame.

'Stupid bird' Dumbledore thought to himself as his eyes continued to look at the place where Fawkes had disappeared. He then looked down and noticed something gold and glowing on his desk. Dumbledore knew what it was as soon as he laid eyes on it and tears began to run from his eyes as he remembered the text he had read on the Phoenix. Usually the Phoenix will keep its droppings within itself and it burns up with the creature each month. The only time a Phoenix dropping will be seen, is when the Phoenix feels that its bonded companion has strayed so far from the path that the Phoenix initially bonded with the companion for, that it is left as a symbol that the creature has broken all ties with the companion.

It was this state, bawling like a baby, that Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape and Alistair Moody found Albus Dumbledore in as they entered his office. The two teachers seemed confused, as did Moody, until his rotating eye fell upon the dropping left on the headmaster's desk. He then began laughing uproariously, leaving the two teachers accompanying him even more confused. His voice suffused with rage as well as pain, Dumbledore asked

"What do you find so funny Alistair?"

Moody quieted instantly and his eye took on a serious look as he stumped forward one more step and growled

"I told you for quite a while now Albus you were going about this all wrong and you refused to listen. Will you now refuse to listen to the purest creature of light?"

With these words he turned and stumped out of the office, still snorting laughter softly, the other two following behind him, now uncertain as to what the golden object sitting on Albus desk represented. They would have to ask him to get an accurate idea of what was going on.


	5. Chapter 5

The next six days passed without incident for Harry, he trained with Godric from 4 to 9:30 am, and then cleared his mind for 30 minutes. Afterwards he would

go down to make breakfast, do his chores which were far milder than ever before, prepare lunch. Do yard work for two hours, then have lunch, followed by

having a shower. Then finish with Occlumency training and school books reading till 10, dinner then sleep.

Today was Monday the 10th, and Harry was happy. Godric moved him from just running to more intensive body conditioning plus starter martial arts training.

He also told Harry that he was moving in a pace faster than even King Arthur who was the last true warrior of the millennium. In addition Harry could now

keep his mind clear while memorizing the feel of the cloth for as long as he wished.

It was now 10:30 and his aunt had just informed no indoor chores for him today. So Harry was free till noon when he would prepare lunch followed by the

yard work. Aunt Petunia had picked a new design for her garden that he was required to follow, which according to her would make it the best looking garden

in the neighbourhood.

Harry was about to begin practicing Occlumency, when a flock of owls flew in the open window. He had never seen so many owls in his room at the same time

not even on his birthday. Shacking off his bewilderment from the sight, Harry set about to free them from their burdens. Along with distribution a rather

large water bowl and an owl treat for each. Harry told them to leave when they were rested as he would send replies with "My beautiful Hedwig here." who

puffed with pride that "Her Harry" preferred she send his mail. He chuckled at his owl and petted her some, then went to check the letters.

Harry found that he had a three letters with Seals one from the Ministry, Hogwarts, and Gringotts respectively, followed by two letters with the familiar

scrawls of Hermione and Ron. Along with a letter that had alternating handwriting that could only have been written by the twins. Plus five more letters

that he had no idea who wrote, one of them had a handwriting that looked like the writer was either in great hurry or in great pain or maybe both.

Sitting on his bed he decided to start with the official letters first starting with one with the Ministry Seal which said:

Dear Mr. Potter,

Due to the rise of the Dark Lord, many families sent us requests to rush the OWL results in order to transfer their children to other schools in fear of

the war.

Please note that the grading system is as follows,

"O" Outstanding awarded 3 OWLs.

"EE" Exceeds Expectations awarded 2 OWLs.

"A" Acceptableawarded 1 OWLs.

"P" Poor awarded 0 OWLs.Failed

"D" Dreadful awarded 0 OWLs.Failed

"T" Terrible awarded 0 OWLs.Failed

Failed OWLs are allowed to be retaken at OWL level next year if you so wish.

OWL results for Harry James Potter

Defence Against Dark Arts "O+" 4.5 OWLs (1)

Charms "O+"4.5 OWLs(2)

Care Of Magical Creatures"O+"3.5 OWLs (3)

Potions "O-"2.5 OWLs (4)

Transfiguration"EE" 2 OWLs

Herbology"A" 1 OWLs

Astronomy"A" 1 OWLs

Divination "D" 0 OWLs

History of Magic "T" 0 OWLs

Total for Harry James Potter 19 OWLs.

Congratulations Mr. Potter you achieved the second highest score in your year.

(1) You achieved an all time record in this subject, scoring higher than Albus Dumbledore's OWL results.

Please note that ¾ an OWL was rewarded to you as an extra credit for your impressive patronus charm.

Another ¾ an OWL was rewarded to you in Defence for your extensive information in the subject that was estimated to be on bar with NEWT level students.

(2) You achieved an all time record in this subject, scoring higher than Lily Evan's OWL results.

Another ¾ an OWL was rewarded to you in Charms for your impressive display in use of true magic and summoning charms during the Tri-Wizard tournament in

your fourth year.

(3) You achieved an all time record in Care Of Magical Creatures, scoring higher than the wizard Agrippa.

Please note that should he have been allowed to take OWL exams, Rubeus Hagrid would have achieved a higher scorethough not by far.

(4) Your potions professor has strongly contested your potions score, after revising your results; it was found that you earned them not because of your

fame.

A copy of this letter will be sent to your guardians in case your results were not up to their standards so they'd request you retake the year.

Harry snorted at the idea of his aunt asking him to retake Divination to raise his scores.

Head of Examination department,

P.S. having achieved the OWLs all time record in DADA, Charms and COMC, which has also achieved you the following two records.

First, you now have the record for the most OWLs all time records with 3 subjects compared to only 2 previously held by Nicolas Flamel.

Second, you also hold the record in subjects based mainly on magical power and talent, more so than Albus Dumbledore who held the previous record in DADA

and Astronomy.

Harry was feeling borderline euphoric; he almost could not believe he had done so well. He thought about his potions score and almost shouted in triumph.

This will show Snape, even with his lack of teachingskills and constant hovering in class he still passed with an Outstanding. Thinking of the greasy git

brought his mood down; the ass had tried to contest his scores. Thank god Hermione had kept drilling stuff into his head all year. Harry was 100percent

sure she was the one who scored the highest score of the year.

He opened the school letter next.

Dear Mr. Potter.

First let me congratulate you on doing so well in your OWLs.

I'm happy to tell you that you qualify to enter all the courses that allow you in Auror training should you choose.

You're eligible to the following courses in NEWT level:

DADA- Charms- Transfiguration- Potions- COMC- Astronomy- Duelling- Apparation- Healing- Occlumency- Animagus- Magical Theory.

All other courses offered at school can be taken at OWL level.

Note that you're only able to take 5 courses as regular classes; however you can take Independent Study in as many of the rest as you feel inclined and

join the final exam in them.

Also according to school rules set by the Founders, a student that achieves an all time record in there OWLs will be appointed a Junior Headmaster/Headmistress

in their sixth year, and head boy/girl in their seventh. So you're the first since your mother and the first boy since the Headmaster.

The responsibilities of this position equal those of head boy/girl, you will be asked to attend prefect meetings and do patrols at irregular intervals.

The privileges of such position add to those of head boy/girl that you will be able to award and discount point from students, give detentions, and your

curfew will be non existent. You'll also be able to exit the castle any time you wish as long as you do not miss classes and a professor knows where you

are and when you are expected back.

In case your decisions are contested, which you should note that only me plus the Headmaster will be able to overrule them in case they were found unjust.Other

than that, contesting your decisionsrequires the Head of the House of the complaining student, The Deputy Headmistress and another teacher to investigate

themin order to either overrule or confirm the decision.

Please take this position very seriously and note that the Headmaster tried to contest you having it but could not since the Founders had made the rule

incontestable. And please keep being Junior Headmaster a secret for now.

Please send a list of your selected courses no later than June 20th; this letter has a charm to show the required books according to what you choose.

Deputy Headmistress,

Minerva McGonagall.

P.S The subject of Occlumency was added on the request of the headmaster since it's not normally offered in school curriculum. He told me to tell you that

it was his wish that you take them; if continued they will be conducted by Professor Snape. I highly disagree with this and advise you to think about this

very seriously before you accept.

P.P.S Harry, I would like you to apply for the Animagus course as independent study so I'll be able to tutor you privately in it, I feel it is the least

for what I owe you and your parents. Please note that the Headmaster does not know about this offer, and should you agree, I would like it to stay that

way even when you do register.

P.P.P.S The Magical Theory class was offered to you by Professor Flitwick. Please note that you will be the only student in this class if taken. You'll

also be tutored first in Arithmacy and Ancient Runes in the first 2 months, and then Professor Flitwick will take over your tutoring himself.

Harry was astounded; it seems Professor McGonagall pulled quite a few strings to ensure Harry got what he earned. He had felt so sad last summer when he

was not chosen as a Prefect, now he had something that screamed "hard work and talent" and no one would be able to say he got it because of his fame. He

looked in the envelope and found the badge there. It looked so eye catching, an oval with emerald green background, the Hogwarts symbol in the middle,

his name across the top curve and the words Junior Headmaster on the bottom one.

Next, he readthe Gringotts letter:

Mr. Harry J. Potter.

First accept my condolences for the loss of your godfather.

Even though he was a fugitive to the ministry, he was a welcome client here for the sole reason of being your godfather. For you have shown more tolerance

to magical beings in your five years in the wizarding world, than any wizards has shown in the last fifty years. That's why we at Gringotts would like

to extend you a hand of friendship to you and offer any help we might be able to provide.

Now back to business. In his will, Mr. Black has instructed us to wait an entire month after his death then to read the will at the first day of the next

month. Following this we have set the time for the will reading on July 1st at 9 am. We have set this letter as a portkey for you to use, please be there

at least an hour before that time as we have some business you should attend to.

Please note that your self appointed guardian Albus Dumbledore will not be informed until June 30th.

Also, it was Mr. Black's death wishenforced by the magic of his line, since he was the head of the black family,that you bring one Bellatrix Lestrange in

unharmed to the will reading yourself, even if she was the one who killed him. We suggest that you comply, Mr. Potter as Mr. Black's soul will not rest

until his death wish isfulfilled. Nothing can hurt her till Mr. Black's wishes are met.

Also we were asked to inform you that no matter what happens that day, you will not be returning to your relatives so prepare accordingly.

Griphook

Gringotts manager

So many conflicting emotions ran through Harry's mind at that, he had been blocking the thoughts of Sirius' death to avoid breaking down but it now seemed

impossible. Nothing helped, not meditation, nor Occlumency, it felt like dam holding it all inside had shattered. He broke down crying, drowning in wails

filled with grief and guilt. Suddenly he felt the bed next to him sink along with experiencing the same warm feeling he associated with the strange woman from Hogwarts. Looking

up at her and seeing that she was there, Harry was wrapped into her embrace, he held onto her like she was the one spec of light in an ocean of darkness

all the while crying ever harder. She held him, rubbing his back and speaking softly in his ear. When a phoenix song erupted forth in a burst of flame along

with Fawkes who was also soothing Harry. The combination of phoenix song and the woman's warm embrace helped Harry calm down.

Looking up he found Fawkes standing on his desk looking at him, Harry said in a voice strained from his cries, "Thank you my friend". Suddenly he noticed he

was still leaning into the woman's embrace and resting his head on her shoulder, Harry blushed from embarrassment and tried to stand but she held him a

little tighter while saying in a motherly tone of voice, "Relax child, it's time for you to know who I am."

Harry hearing this wrapped his arms back around her as he felt safe and content in her arms so he leaned in an enjoyed the feeling. No one had ever cared

for him enough to give him such a kind gesture.

"You have heard stories about Hogwarts being sentient, right?" was her first question. Harry just nodded since he felt it himself a few times but was slightly

confused by the question.

"Hogwarts is sentient Harry. A sentient being has a lower level of intelligence than humans while higher than animals. When the founders built the school

they poured some of their minds into the wards to make them self preservative. Later a prophecy was made and they enhanced the wards and changed the school

into a sentient being, they built a central chamber where the heart of this being was to be, and tied most of the wards to it. The most significant one

was a knowledge transfer ward, it is part of the contract that all new teachers sign which included to never hide any knowledge from the student that would

help them. Using this ward it was able to transfer all the knowledge of magic that the teachers and the headmasters into itself, the very being of the

school. Year by year it progressed into a very intelligent being. Fifteen years ago, the progress seemed to increase, and more complex feelings started

to change it till it was neared the level of a human. Last Christmas a box appeared in the central room. The last step came when you stopped in front of the

central room and asked for guidance, you helped it as the being gained a body and then it was clear where the complex emotions came from. Harry, I'm Hogwarts

combined with the essence of your mother after she died. It was meant to be that I would be your mentor, but I also need something from you Harry, I need

you to accept me as your mother, since I have her essence in me, my very instincts scream for you to accept me. Please Harry."

Harry was overwhelmed by this information, but the last bit shocked him more. He looked in her eyes and saw nothing but love and hope, he had longed for

a mother for as long as he could remember and now more than ever. Hogwarts has always made him feel like home more than the Dursleys or even the Burrow.

"I accept, mother". Eyes alight with joy; they embraced each other in joy. Harry looked and saw Fawkes still on his desk and seemed not to be leaving any

time soon.

Over the next hour he spent time telling his new mother about his life before Hogwarts since she knew all about his Hogwarts years.

The door opened suddenly to reveal Petunia standing there looking in a mix of shock and confusion at them, "Time for your chores, Boy" she said. The lady Lily Hogwarts looked at her in cold hatred, Harry put

his hands on her shoulders to calm her "It's alright mother, it's better this way for me." he said. Having known about the deal he had with them, Lily agreed reluctantly. She stood up and hugged Harry saying, "I'll go now, son. I'll be back later for your training" she kissed him on the forehead and was

gone. He turned and found his aunt standing there staring at the spot where Lily was standing. "Who was that?" she asked. "In short, she adopted me, I

will be leaving to move in with her later." with that he left to do his chores.

Petunia stood there processing this, the boy said he'd move out soon, it couldn't be soon enough.

Having finished his chores, Harry took a shower and went to his room. Upon entering he found his mother

'I like the sound of that', he thought.

She had a piece of paper with her and was drawing on it. "What are you drawing?" he asked. She smiled at him "Nothing, just doodling." she replied.

"So what should we start doing?" he asked excited about the concept of training with her. "Now you should start reading your friends' letters." she replied.

Harry complied realising the logic. He opened Ron's letter first.

Hey mate.

Sorry mate but you don't get to spend the summer with us this year. We're all going to Egypt to visit my brother till august 25th. Dumbledore said you couldn't

be at headquarters till then.

Look mate I want you to promise not to keep any secrets from either me or Hermione this year. We're both best mates, right?

Dumbledore said he could place a charm on Hedwig so she could reach me and back in Egypt as if I was in London.

Your best mate,

Ron.

This confused Harry a lot, it was not like Ron to be this thoughtful about secrets and friendship, maybe he finally matured. He decided in his reply he'd

tell him about his new mother. He'd reply to all letters once he finished.

The next letter revealed to be from Neville.

Dear Harry.

I just wanted to thank you for what you did for me last year. Gran never stopped saying how proud she was of me. She even told me she'd get me a new wand

next month.

Your friend, Neville

Harry was happy for Neville; the boy grew up in fear of not being up to the standards his Gran set for him. He now held more confidence in himself and would

do loads better at school.

He turned to the twins' letter.

Hey Harry.

First we swear that every thing we'll say in this letter is nothing but true.

Yes Harry, we swear by the debt we owe you and anything that makes us humans, even though we know you won't like it.

Last month we joined the Order after we settled into our shop. There we learnt a few surprising facts.

Last summer, Ron and Hermione joined the Order; their only mission was to keep tabs on you.

From what we know, they both accepted right away without hesitation. Remus and Sirius were strictly kept in the dark about this.

Sorry to deliver the bad news Harry, but we owe you at least this much.

For some good news, we made you a silent partner in our shop, there's no way for you to refuse this.

Your friends,

Fred and George

P.S. they'll start magical training next month.

Harry was seething, he was beyond angry. He wasn't this angry when he blew up Aunt Marge.

Fawkes and Higgy started singing soothingly to him till he calmed down a little. Harry showed Higgy the letter, she read it and said, "I'm sorry my son.

I knew about that but was waiting in hope for your friends to rectify their mistakes first. It seems too late now." She hugged him a little more.

He grabbed Hermione's letter and was about to rip it in pieces but Higgy stopped him. "Please Harry; leave it till you calm down. Till then, let me show

you your new room."

Harry noticed for the first time the changes in his room; it seemed fit for a prince. A giant bed stood where the old cot was. The room itself was the size

of the Gryffindor common room. The walls painted in an elegant mix of all the Hogwarts house colours. Where his old desk stood, was an ornate desk that

would make Dumbledore jealous. The chair was also very comfortable looking. A few book shelves and a large closet.

The rest of the room looked like a piece of the Gryffindor common room, a sofa, a fire place, a few chairs and even a love seat.

"Here Harry you can use any magic you want, and no one will know. It is a charm similar to the Fidelius, only the people you allow will be able to see the

change. If they have any intend to tell other people they will forget about it." She said in pride.

"There's a milder form of time altering charm than the one on the book of fighting. It can work for 20 hours a day, every day inside will equal two hours

outside, you'll be able to retain any physical changes you take there even though you won't age."

Harry was impressed and told her so. She blushed and told him she was planning for this ever since she had merged with Lily's essence. "Now I think you

should read the letter, and note that I'll be preparing your food from now on, so tell that to your aunt."

Harry turned to Hermione's letter; he had to admit that while Ron's actions hurt him a bit, it wasn't that surprising. It hurt far more deeply that Hermione

would do that to him. He always thought of her as his fortress, that he could find her there for him even when the world was against him. He opened the

letter to see what she had to say.

Dear Harry.

I will cut the crap about the summer so far, mine was boring and yours filled with grief.

I feel so guilty Harry. Last summer Dumbledore invited Ron and me to join the order. Thinking that you already joined we agreed right away only to find

you did not even know. Ron was so ecstatic over it and it made me so disgusted to see him like that. We were not allowed into meetings and our only mission

was to keep tabs about you until the order is convinced you were ready to join. Looking back, I think Dumbledore did his best to keep you off balance so

you will not join.

At the end of last year he told us we would begin their training in magic come July. I cannot tell you how radiant Ron looked hearing that. He looked just

like he did after the Quidditch cup.

I am sick of this, Harry. You are more important to me than all of them combined. I kept thinking last week and decided that unless you are allowed in the

order, I will quit. Please Harry write back and tell me what you think. I could never live with myself knowing I had lost you over this. I really did not mean to betray you and will do anything to make it up to you if I could.

Love always

Hermione.

Harry noticed something strange about the signature, looking closer he saw it seemed like a different type of ink. It was glowing. He touched it and it

felt protruding, as if it was not absorbed in the parchment. It suddenly came to his mind, blood. Hermione used blood to sign the letter. The significance

of this was not lost on Harry, he once read in a book about simple blood magic.

Blood magic is said to be the most powerful magic a single person can perform. That is because of two things; one, is that in terms of magical energy blood

always possesses the maximum amount the person can reach on their peak from the first time they use it until their death. Two, is that while using other forms

of magic in large quantities in a short amount of time, the magical output starts decreasing until the person has some rest. However, blood has the same

potency, which does not decrease. So nothing short of severe blood loss can prevent someone from using their blood magic.

That said, in their desire to gain full control over all magicalpractice forms, the ministry classified the art as Dark. The only permitted form was magical

blood oath, the simplest form of blood magic; which in its own way, was a really good clue to exactly how powerful blood magic can be.

The simplest form of blood oath is a blood signature, where some one uses their blood to sign a statement or a letter. That means an oath of Sincerity,

which means that the writer has said nothing but full truth and has left nothing out. The blood of magical people when used to this extent would only form

words in the case of absolute and full truth only; no one can use another person's blood even with said person's consent. Blood of other non-magic humans

and such does not leave the glow a magical blood does when used in blood signature.

Another form of blood oath is blood letter, where someone sends a letter written entirely in blood. That indicates that the writer's obligations to the

receiver outweigh their own self-preservation instincts. Again, the magic of their blood puts the same restrictions on the user.

Therefore, it is safe to say Harry was deeply impressed with Hermione's willingness to prove her honesty to him.

Harry actually was bursting with happiness, his best friend and confident was still true to him. He was eternally grateful for his mother for stopping him

from tearing Hermione's letter. She truly meant more to him than anything ron had come close to in the years, especially after the whole Tri-Wizard fiasco with Ron and Hermione showing that she believed him from the beginning. He still wasn't sure about the whole second task as now when he thought about it, the thing he would sorely miss would have been Hermione.

He turned to one of the unknown letters and opened it, it read.

Dear Harry

I bet you are surprised that I wrote to you, well I am too. I just found myself writing this.

First things first, Sirius' death was in no way or form your fault. Looking back as a neutral person, I would say you acted in the best way possible under

those circumstances.

Sirius' death was his choice, Harry, professor Lupin showed me how he died in a penseive, he was not on his guard as he should have been. I am not badmouthing

his memory, but I think that it was a direct result from 12 years in Azkaban, and a full year in his own house.

Strange things are happening here actually, we are preparing to move to headquarters even though I heard my mother telling Ron to tell you we were going

to Egypt. Being under no such instructions, I decided to tell you right away so you would know what is happening.

Harry, I feel way more connected to you that most of my brothers, even though we had very little contact over the years. I used to have a crush on you,

but now it has grown into a sisterly love like the one I hold for bill and Charlie, the ones I love most. I know it could be more if we wanted it to, but I will take this love if it is the only one you can offer. I hope you love me in return.

Love

Ginny

Harry thought over this, he had realized in his sessions with his mother that he should not have totally ignored Ginny after her first year like he did.

He realized that in her state after that incident, she really needed someone who understood what it was like to be in a traumatic eventlike Harry did. However,

as Harry had received too little affection in his life, he did not know what to do or how to act.

He picked up the next letter to see what it was about.

Dear Harry,

How are you this fine morning, I am afraid that bed snufflers will swarm the earth like they do each millennium.

NO NO NO. I am sorry Harry, I made a promise not to talk that way with you, and I really need to tell you things not even my father knows.

Mother's death hit me really hard Harry, I didn't want to have any one close to me only to have them go away again, so I hid behind the lunatic personality

to keep people at bay. It worked, it really did and all fell for it. Only two did not. The sorting hat and you. You just seemed to walk through all walls

I built around me, in a real effort to know the real me. So I owe you this confession, I love you Harry, ever since that moment you saw the Quibbler in

my hands and did not scold me. I'll love you anyway you want me to, if you want me to be your friend, I'll be as true to you as Hermione is, even if she

doesn't like me.If you want me as your lover, I'll share you with all the world, so long as I know I hold a place in your heart.

I have to finish this now, good bye

Love

Luna

Harry was too shocked to form words; he just could not wrap his mind that someone would declare unconditional love to him. He gave the letter silently to

Lily who read it.

She chuckled a little and said, "Oh, my baby is being swooned over by love struck girls" she teased while wiping fake tears from her eyes. "Seriously though,

Harry. I want you to sit here and tell me exactly how you feel about her"

Harry sat there thinking for a while, "I really don't know. I feel somesense of familiarity with her, you know. Like we could tell what each other feel

without even looking at each other. Something, which confuses me greatly, I never had that feeling with anyone. Not even Hermione, though she came close

after so much time with each other"

Lily considered this a bit then said, "I understand, Harry. From her letter, I think you both isolated your selves from the outside using different methods.

That enabled you to feel what you each want to hide."

Harry, still confused asked, "But what about that strange feeling of completeness, I thought I associated with Hermione only, but I started feeling it around

Luna too"

Lily smiled and said "I thick you're in love with both of them, son."

Harry looked panicked, "Both of them? Shall I tell them?"

Higgy thought for a moment then said, "I think you should tell Luna immediately. But wait for Hermione to settle her feelings first"

Harry nodded, convinced and set to read the rest of the letters.

The next letter came in a certain shade of pink that he usually associated with Tonks.

Wotcher Harry

I bet you are wondering who this is. Well, it is Tonks.

Let us get the unpleasantries out of the way. I feel terrible about Sirius' death but I do not hold you responsible for it under any form. He actually chose

to die that day. I know because he told me as much when I tried to tell him to stay at home, he said, "I know Tonks, I know it's a trap to get Harry. I

know he went there to rescue me. Just tell him if I die tonight that I love him and that I chose to go. Knowing fully what dangers I might face there."

So you see Harry, he made his choice; I do not see any point in you blaming yourself over this.

Now Harry, I am writing to you against Dumbledore's wishes and unknown to him. Why you ask me? Because I am not convinced why you have to be left alone

all summer somewhere you hate to grieve by yourself. It seems as if he's trying to push you over the edge or break your will or something, I just don't

see why., any how all I know is that I'll do anything to help you, including sleeping with you wink wink. And no, I am not whoring my self. I really like

you Harry. You are one of the very few persons who seek to know the real me, not the Metamorphmagus.

Please Harry, allow me to visit, I have so much to tell you.

Love

Tonks

P.S you can call me Dora if you want. Only you would be allowed to do so.

Again Harry was shocked into silence; it seemed his dream was coming true after all. Hermione, Luna and now Tonks, and who knows who else. 'This is just

getting weirder and weirder.' he thought

He turned to Lily and said in a hopeful tone "should I allow her to come?"

She replied, "Yes Harry and I know you can fully trust her with every thing"

Harry felt happy, he turned to the last two letters, he picked the one with regal handwriting first

Mr. Potter

This is Narcissa Malfoy. I am writing to provide advice to you, and in return

I ask for your help.

You are a very influential wizard, you just need to step up and take your rightful place in our community

That said, I, as an experienced pureblood witch, can help you with that. In exchange I ask you to promise me protection from both my husband and son. I

had counted on Sirius to help me get divorce since he was the head of my previous family, but he was never cleared to achieve that end. Now I'm afraid

that my son as the eldest male heir to the black spawn will gain that title and I'll never have my freedom.

Please consider this and to assure you of my loyalty, I shall swear a blood oath that my loyalty will lie with you primarily, if you give me an oath to

insure you will protect me.

Sincerely

Narcissa Black Malfoy

Talk about surprises, the mother of his school nemesis just contacted him to help him become a more influential wizard, higher in society than her own son.

Thinking hard whether he should accept or not, Harry decided to wait until Sirius' will reading to see what he had to say about her.

He turned to the last letter, he was astonished to find it written fully in blood. Wondering about who will pledge him their own life like that, Harry started

to read.

Potter

No time for pleasantries, I need your help, and I need it now.

the Dark Lord has seen it fit to remove the mind control spells he had over me all those years, he saw it as a suitable punishment to remind me of all the

terrible things I did under them because I failed to get the prophecy for him.

He added a specific ward to the house, that ward is tuned to me and my memories. should I leave I'll retain all the memories of the crimes I did while I'll

lose the memories of being under mind control so that at my capture, I'll have no defense even under veritaserum.

He then promised me that nothing is stopping me from leaving, even going as far as to order all the death eaters to leave me be.

I researched these wards and found out how to disable them, I'll need to have three drops of the Dark lord's blood on my Dark Mark when I leave, that will

have the effect of cutting all the magical effect the Dark Lord hasover me for about three hours, which is more time than I need to escape.

That said, after the other death eaters told me about the events of the dark lord's resurrection, I think he allowed your blood to react equally to the

Dark Mark as his,because he used it directly after his resurrection, as opposed to the three months he should have waited for your blood to diminish within

him.

So I think a good alternative would be to have your blood on my mark since no one can convince the dark lord to freely give his blood.

Should you agree, I will submit my self to your will, you can kill me for all I care, just do not leave me abandoned in this hell.

Bellatrix

Too many shocks in one day have a certain effect on human mind, Harry fainted on the spot. Once he awoke, he started to think.

There was no way Bellatrix could be lying, blood insured this. So his dream was true then, he vowed right there to always pay attention to the eyes of his

adversaries. That will help free those under control.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Harry awoke at four as usual and activated the time feature, which made the room glow for a second then stop. He noticed two clocks appearing

on the wall opposite to the door. One was labeled "ROOM" and the other labeled "OUTSIDE". The latter seemed to have stopped. After thinking on it, he decided

it was put there to remind him of the out side time.

The next three days that came were spent solely on training. 15 days in the Book with Godric. He spent the time with his mother training in Occlumency,

meditation and discussing his life as outsiders.

When the OUTSIDE clock struck 10, he went down to make an appearance. He told Petunia the he has acquired a way to have food in his room, and that he would

eat lunch only with them, which was fine by her.

Harry made lunch and worked in the yard. When they were eating, his uncle cleared his throat, "Fr…. Err… boy; we have received a letter from your kind yesterday,

even though it was sent the proper way. Why did we receive that notification?"

Harry thought a little, and then said, "Um, I think that's my OWL letter. They sent it to ensure that I don't hide my grades from you in case they were adequate

enough, by your standards, to make me retake my fifth year."

His uncle considered it for a moment, exchanging a look with his wife, "And what are we expected to do about them? What are OWLs, any way? Are you to receive

more birds like yours as a reward?"

Harry chuckled, "no, uncle Vernon. OWLs are an evaluation system, much like the GSC to you. And I think you should do nothing about them, I received the

second highest mark in my year anyway."

Vernon continued, "And that's another question we need to ask. How would you have failed three of your subjects and still have the second highest mark.

In addition, how come you achieved an all time record five times and still there was a student who had more points?"

Harry thought for a moment and then said, "I got the second highest score because I err, over achieved you might say in many subjects. I mean I received

extra credits in them because of my actions over the years. The subjects I failed were irrelevent anyway. The other one who scored more than me, was simply

because she took more subjects"

Vernon seemed struggling with himself to continue this conversation, "And what about the all time part? Just how long do you keep record of your scores?"

Harry tried to remember Binn's lessons, "I think about fifteen hundred years. Our examination procedures date back before the time of King Arthur, though

They're still adequate."

Vernon seemed shocked at this, "You mean to tell me that you hold five records over fifteen hundred years' worth of students?"

Harry blushed at this, "Y…Yes uncle Vernon"

Vernon seemed to debate something, "Fine boy, you can go to your room today after you finish the yard work and you may work only an hour a day in the garden,

starting tomorrow, with the same deal."

Harry was happy at this; he could add another day to his training this way, "Alright, thanks uncle Vernon."

At 2 o'clock, Harry went to his room and activated it right away. He found his mother petting Hedwig. She looked at him smiling, "You have some letters

to reply to, Harry."

Harry nodded smiling, retrieved a quill and a stack of parchments, and started to think of whom to write to first.

Hey Gred and Forge.

Thank you two for your letter, unpleasant as it was. Do not worry about Hermione though, she wrote to me the same day telling me about every thing. She even

signed in blood.

Now, Ron is the one I need to pay back, so here is what I want you to do.

He then proceeded to explain in detail what he wanted them to do to get back at Ron for betraying him.

He then wrote another letter to Ron.

In his letter to Ginny he wrote,

While I accept your sisterly love, Ginny. I am sorry to say I cannot return it. You see, with me being a boy and all, I can only give you brotherly love, perhaps more as we spend more time together as you indicated. We'll see what the year holds for us.

Brotherly yours,

Harry J. Potter

Harry decided to write Luna next.

Dear Luna,

You do not know how touched I was by reading your letter.

I love you too Luna, deeply within my heart. But my life is not simple. I have Voldemort on my back to deal with, and I just learned that my family has

asked, no ordered, me to marry at least four wives.

Please, Luna. I want you to consider this carefully. For I'll be heart broken if you say no, but it'll break my heart more if you say yes while you're not

happy with it.

Truly yours.

Harry.

His letter to Hermione was short and to the point

Hermione.

While I am angry, I am not mad. I will not hold it against you. Keep with them for now and go to Gringott's on the first at 10 am. Just show this letter

to the goblins.

Harry.

Harry poured his heart in his letter to Tonks.

Dear Tonks.

No, I will not call you Dora until I am sure.

Please, do not promise me something you do not want to give me.

I have feelings for you, Tonks, and it will break me to find you only feel pity towards me when all is settled.

So please, do not reply to this letter unless you really mean it. If you want to visit, you can come spend the weekend here. I have a warded room that even

Mad-eye cannot see through. You can come between 10-12 am on the 15th.

Yours,

Harry.

After signing it, Harry pondered on what to write in his next letters.

Narcissa Malfoy.

Meet at Gringott's for the will. Decide there.

H.J.P

Dear professor McGonagall.

I think I'll take the following courses:

DADA – Charms – Transfiguration – COMC – Magical Theory; as regular classes.

Moreover, I'll take the next courses

Potions – Dueling – Animagus – Apparition – Healing; as self-study subjects.

I have no intention on learning Occlumency, though I'd appreciate it if you keep that a secret.

Sincerely,

Harry Potter.

P.S. I'd like to thank you for all the effort you put forth to help me.

Then, came Harry's most difficult letter. After conversing with Lily a little over it, Harry took a knife and pricked his fingers, he let five drops fall

on the top of the parchment. Higgy put a few charms on it, and then he started writing.

Bellatrix,

I acknowledge your plea. You can use the blood drops on the parchment to your ends. I used a charm to prevent anyone but you from even seeing this letter

using the blood signature on your letter. Another charm will ensure my blood remains intact and ready for use. I also put a charm on it that will bring

you to me, just apparate with the letter in your hand, it'll bypass all wards.

You have three options. All ending with the same result; that you come here on June 30th.

One, you stay where you are until the day you are to come to me.

Two, you leave that place on your own, and come to me on the 30th.

Three, you come to me right away, right here where I can offer you refuge. I'm under wards that the cooperation of both Dumbledore and Voldemort can't bring

down. Your safety is garunteed with me and I hold no ill will towards you, as I acknowledge that you were coerced into doing what you did at the D.O.M. If I had only known I could have helped you sooner, but my memories of the situation, along with your letter proved to me that youspeak the truth.

H.J. Potter.

Harry then called Hedwig to him, "hey girl, can you deliver these letters for me?"

She hooted in reply and stuck her leg up for him.

He started tying the letters to her while saying, "These two letters go to the twins, give them the first one and wait until they read it, then give them

the one with Ron on it. You can then deliver Ginny's letter, Hermione's, Tonks, Luna's, and last Narcissa's letter. Then come back, don't wait for replies. Alright

girl?"

She hooted in agreement, then hopped to Bellatrix's letter and stared at Harry in a silent question.

Harry shifted nervously, quite remembering his fourth year, "You see girl, and I have to give it to another bird to deliver. I'm sorry"

She screeched at Harry and flapped her wings in obvious indignation.

Harry tried to calm her, "Hedwig, try to understand, this letter is going to Voldemort's base, I can't let you go there, and you might be spotted. You're

too precious to me to risk this"

Hedwig's gaze softened and she flew to Harry's right shoulder and nipped at his ear. Suddenly, Fawkes flew to Harry's other shoulder and started what seemed

like talking with Hedwig. Harry often wondered why Fawkes never left his room since he appeared the first time, but let it be, since Fawkes did not get

in the way and kept to himself.

While Harry appeared confused, Lily was staring at him in wonder. If her suspicions were correct, then this would be a great turning point for Harry. "Harry,

no matter what happens, I want you to stare right a head of you and never move"

In his confusion by the strange scene, Harry could only nod at this.

Suddenly, both Hedwig and Fawkes bit on his ear hard enough to draw blood. Harry winced but stayed still. He felt the two birds drinking his blood. They

lowered their heads, placed their moist eyes over the wounds, and cried on them. There was a sudden flash of light and Harry felt something being forced

in his head, though it was not unpleasant. It felt like a loving caress.

Harry looked at his right shoulder, but to his surprise, he did not find Hedwig, he found a pure white bird with black outlines to its feathers, the bird

looked like a phoenix, though a bit larger than Fawkes was. Speaking of which, Harry looked at his other shoulder, but instead of Fawkes, he found a pure

black bird with white outlines to its feathers, it was the same shape and size of the one to his right. Harry panicked, "Mother, what happened to Hedwig

and Fawkes?"

Instead of Lily, Harry heard a musical female voice, "I'm right here, my Harry. I just changed shape" the bird on his right shoulder nipped his ear. The

voice came back, "I always wanted to be your companion, but I couldn't. Your magic was too much for me. Therefore, I had to wait in order to share the

link with you, with another animal. Fawkes chose to share with me. Right now, I want you to call me Isis. I prefer that name to Hedwig. However, I can

revert back to my owl form; you can call me Hedwig then."

Another musical voice, male this time, said, "I'm Fawkes, Harry. Though I'd prefer you call me Osiris in this form, I also can revert back to my previous

form, you can call me Fawkes then."

Harry's confusion increased, "How can I hear you?"

Lily answered, "That, Harry, is because they forged a link with you, as your companions. I do not know what they are telling you, because I am not part

of this link. But I could tell from your face."

Harry asked, "But, what is a companion link?"

Higgy thought for a bit, "A companion link is one of the forms of blood magic. Two magical beings can forge this link between each other. The one magically

weaker is to drink blood of the stronger one, then giving them their tears in return. This forges a link between them, so intimate, that it is considered

by those who shared it more intimate than the acts of physical love between lovers. One such link was between a kind of magical horse and the great eagles

of the old. Companions can mate each other, though that would be impossible in your case. Such acts led to the existence of Hippogriffs, Centaurs, and

many other magical creatures. The most notable one was between the great eagles of the old, and the great lions of the old, which produced the greatest

and most powerful magical creature, the Golden Gryffin."

Harry's confusion increased, "but Hedwig was just an owl, she wasn't magical."

It was Isis who answered him, "actually Harry, I was magical, I was a part snow owl, it's a magical type of owl with very little magical ability, except

being able to live in very low temperatures."

That actually made sense to Harry, who always thought Hedwig was not an ordinary owl. He directed his thoughts to Lily.

"Wasn't Fawkes Dumbledore's companion?"

Here the answer came from Osiris, "First I was Dumbledore's familiar, not his companion. Second, I accidentally defecated on his desk a while ago."

Harry, who had researched about phoenixes as thoroughly as he could, having his hide saved by one a couple of times, knew what that meant right away and

burst out laughing. He still had more questions though,

"but why did you change shape? And why does Osiris seem bigger than Fawkes, and why do you have two shapes?"

Isis answered him, "it all comes down to one answer Harry, you. Your magic had two independent parts in it. One I linked to, and one Osiris linked to. The

reason we are bigger, is to help our bodies contain the large amount of magic in them. We are about twice as strong as normal phoenix, and easily the most

powerful phoenixes ever. That's the reason we have two forms too, as bonding to you didn't lose us our previous powers."

Lily approached him smiling broadly, "congratulations my son, day by day you prove your worth to the title you are due, I wish I was the one to give you

such title, and I'd have given it to you right away." She then hugged him while the two phoenixes sang.

Harry took a moment to enjoy his mother embrace, then said, "alright Isis, you can take that last letter, just don't be seen in phoenix form." He had noticed

the rest of the letters attached to her leg still, he tied the letter to Bellatrix to her. She hopped off his shoulder and disappeared in a burst of flames.

Harry heard Osiris mutter quietly "show off" and chuckled.

Ron was living his summer in an almost euphoric state. He felt that the world was going his way at last, he joined the Order when Harry didn't, became a

prefect, and was about to receive training that would make Harry look like a squib next to him. Moreover, he planned to ask Hermione out when he saw her

next, just to spite Harry, he knew he didn't like her that way, but the thought that Harry might be interested in dating her made her interesting to him.

He heard the door opening, and saw the twins enter. Fred had a letter in his hand that drew his concentration. When he looked on it, he missed the devious

smirk that appeared on his brother's face.

Fred said, "Brother dearest, your friend Harrykins sent you a letter. But his owl left quickly, she seemed in a great hurry to deliver some official looking

letter."

Ron was intrigued and snatched the letter from Fred to see if Harry said anything about it. In his hurry, Ron forgot to ask the twins to leave.

Dear Ron.

Thank you for your letter, and have a pleasant trip.

I have great news for you mate, guess what. Some people contacted me and offered me some training. they are a very special group that promised to raise

me to a higher level than Dumbledore in just two years. I accepted. I asked them if you and Hermione are allowed to join, but they said you do not have

enough potential. sorry mate. Any way, we agreed to meet at Gringott's. They said they had a portkey ready that would leave with or without me at nine

tonight. I will stay in the leaky cauldron for now so I will not be late.

Bye mate, see you in two years.

Your friend

Harry

P.S. they are called "The Order of the Imperial Dragon." fancy, huh?

Ron unconsciously repeated aloud, "The Order of the Imperial Dragon?"

Fred jumped, "The Order of the Imperial Dragon? What about it? Whose joining??"

Ron looked at Fred, "yes, Harry said he's joining"

George bounced up and down while shouting happily, "that's great, great. It's said that they didn't find enough potential in Dumbledore, and that their

last apprentice was Nicholas Flamel, and the four founders before him"

Ron's mind came to a halt at this information. 'Harry potter becoming great, greater than Dumbledore?' that would be something he could never match up to,

he had to put a stop to that.

He ran down leaving his two smirking brothers in his room, they took the letter and left.

Ron ran down to the fireplace, threw some floo powder and shouted, "Headmaster Albus Dumbledore" the flame turned green and Dumbledore's head appeared in

the fire.

He said, "Ronald, what seem to be the problem?" seeing the troubled look on Ron's face

Ron replied in a hurry, "Harry, professor, he's taking training with The Order of the Imperial Dragon, he said that his dead line is 9 o'clock. He'll be

staying in the leaky cauldron till then, please stop him sir"

Ron returned to his room with a smug look on his face, he did not find Harry's letter. He ran to the twin's room and asked them about it, they told him

it was a kind of security parchment that burnt after being read.

Ron shrugged in indifference; he was not going to keep it anyway.

Dumbledore took his head out of the fire so fast it almost cracked on the mantelpiece. He looked at his watch and saw that he had only 20 minutes. He muttered

a long incantation to open the floo connection, which alone took five minutes. He shouted his destination, and was transported to the inn. He ran from

the fireplace to tom shouting, "where is Harry potter"

Tom calmly responded, "not here professor, do you want a drink?"

Dumbledore ran to him and took hold of his collar, shouting in rage, "where is he?"

Tom looked scared, "please professor, Mr. Potter hasn't been here since the summer before his third year."

Dumbledore let go of him at once muttering, "I apologize" and walked off followed by the surprised gazes of the onlookers, who included a reporter who vowed

to keep from publishing this until it was suitable.

Dumbledore hurried to the bank, he waited till some goblin saw to him, it was now five minutes to nine and he was in quite a hurry, he said to the goblin,"

I'm Albus Dumbledore, guardian to one Harry potter. I want to know if Mr. Potter has any appointment with any one, goblin or other wise today in the bank."

The goblin looked at him, then asked him to wait a few moments. Four minutes later, the goblin returned to him and informed him that Harry had no appointment

in Gringott's anytime soon with anyone.

Dumbledore was dumbfounded for a moment, he knew that in Gringott's no disguise can fool the goblins, so he was sure that Harry wasn't due to arrive today,

since portkeys required goblins to give their consent if they activate in the bank. Unless ... his thoughts trailed a bit, until the horrific realization

came to him, he, the great Albus Dumbledore, with too many titles to count, was pranked. And by a schoolchild no less. still, could Ronald have made it

all by himself, he had to be sure.

He hurried out of the bank and apparated to the edge of the wards around Harry's home, he thought, 'damn you Fawkes, I'd have been sitting in his room by

now.'

He rang the bell; the boy's aunt opened the door. She sneered at seeing him, 'stupid bitch', he thought

He put on his pleasant face, "good evening, Mrs. Dursley. I need to speak to Harry please." he said

She answered snidely, "upstairs first door to the left"

He smiled at her and left to Harry's room. When he knocked, he was not expecting the sight that met him.

Standing in front of him was someone he barely knew, there was no way possible that this young man standing in front of him right now, to be the same scrawny

kid he saw off last week. If this was Harry all right, then he needed to act quickly to stop whatever was causing such a change to him. A healthy boy is

more difficult to handle than a scrawny little boy is. He could not just ask him to stop whatever he was doing because it will look suspicious. Instead,

he would try to see what it was and hope to stop it from the sidelines.

Harry was sitting in the room reading, when it happened. The room returned to its original state. Fawkes reverted to his previous form, and Lily disappeared.

He sat confused, but a mere second later, he heard a knock on the door.

Harry opened it to see a face he would have preferred he never saw this summer, the face of Albus Dumbledore.

Dumbledore smiled at him and said, "Hello, Harry."

Harry put a face of someone miserable that saw one of the few cheers in his life, though he would prefer nothing more than smashing the old man's face,

and replied, "Hello, professor."

Harry put thoughts of grief filled days in his outer mind layer, as Occlumency taught him. He began to think of his mind as a two-layered onion. The outer

layer would reveal what should be revealed, due to the environment, and reactions with it.

The inner layer is the true composition of the onion. Every proper thing it should be.

A sniffing animal will only smell what the outer layer smells like. But if said animal would plunge its claws in it, it can see, detect, and even eat what

is hidden behind the outer layer with ease.

And Dumbledore was sniffing the air, looking for any lies Harry would tell him, he knew that. Though, Dumbledore did not know he did.

Dumbledore asked Harry cheerfully, "Harry, my boy. How have you been?"

Harry answered in sadness, "I'm fine professor."

Dumbledore went right to the point, "Harry, what do you know about The Order of the Imperial Dragon?"

Harry thought for a minute, "I don't know, professor. Though, I remember hearing about it some where."

Dumbledore noticed Fawkes standing on the chair behind Harry's desk preening his feathers; he walked towards the bird as he said, "Hello, Fawkes". Fawkes

never stopped preening as he simply gave Dumbledore his back. Dumbledore still tried to approach, but Harry held him back saying, "I would advice against

it, professor. The next one would stick permanently to your nose."

Dumbledore turned to Harry in surprise, "And how do you know about the first one, Harry?" he asked.

Harry somberly said, "aside from his taking permanent residence in my room the last few days, the fat drop of glowing droppings that appeared on my desk

the moment you stepped in." Dumbledore could detect nothing from Harry but sincerity, as if the boy was sorrier for his condition than he was.

Harry then asked, "Why did you come now though, professor? Is anything wrong?"

Dumbledore dismissed him with a wave of his hand, "don't worry over this my boy. It was nothing. Enjoy your summer." And then he left without looking back.

When the room was finally restored, meaning Dumbledore was far, Harry collapsed on the floor laughing helplessly.

Dumbledore stormed in Headquarters looking every bit as furious as he felt. In the kitchen, he found the twins talking quietly and Ronald stuffing his face

as usual. He snarled, "Come with me, Ronald come with me you two as well."

They went to the drawing room with Dumbledore sitting staring up at Ron and the twins until they shifted nervously.

He said harshly, "How could you lie to your brother, and give him a fake letter in pretence it was from Harry?"

The twins looked panicked and said, "we didn't do it professor we just delivered Harry's letter to Ron. We did nothing more."

Dumbledore did not see the usual fake innocent look they had when they played pranks at school, so he rounded on Ron and said, "Then it's you Ronald. How

could you lie to me and tell me Harry was leaving, when I found him sitting peacefully in his room playing with Fawkes?"

"I swear professor." said a panicked Ron, "I only told you what I found in the letter and what the twins affirmed to me"

Fred retaliated, "we only said that when you told us Harry was joining that order. How could we have known otherwise?"

Dumbledore, seeing the obvious truth in the eyes of the twins, was led to believe them. He did not bother to check Ron's point of view. He said harshly,

"Ronald I was expecting better from you. With all the responsibilities you have now, you should have acted more maturely. I will allow you to stay in the

order; however I will suspend your training and have your sister trained in your place"

Ron walked sadly to his room, while the twins apparated directly to theirs. They warded it against spying and collapsed on the floor laughing hysterically.

That day at two in the morning, many people received some peculiar letters. Among them was a werewolf named Lupin he smirked in obvious happiness at the

blackened Hogwarts letter. He recognized the different seal of the Brotherhood of Mischief where the house mascots resembled clowns, and the letter seems

to be a bit charred. A prank to remember was played and the brotherhood saw fit to inform the previous Hogwarts pranksters. He was the last one to play

a prank that earned publishing by the Brotherhood.

At the same time, Harry received a similar looking letter but instead of the details of the prank, a magical binding oath of secrecy was present. When he

asked his mother, she told him a most peculiar story

Back when Hogwarts was first founded, each one of the four founders had a secret and was very insistent on keeping it. Strangely enough, it was the same

secret for the four of them. Each one had a mischievous streak in them combined with their best qualities.

When they merged their essence to form the sentient being of Hogwarts, the combined mischievous streaks made the castle quite the troublemaker. That explained

the moving staircases, the fake doors, and all the strange things that happened in its halls.

When the founders left and the castle gained independence, it managed to locate all the troublemakers in the student body. Each one of the students received

a letter like the one Harry received to swear on keeping the organization of mischief a secret.

When Harry signed the letter in his blood the contract transformed into a long list with comments from all the living members of the brotherhood. One in

particular stood out when he read it. It said ever since he was a seventh year, no one has ever managed to prank Dumbledore. Thank you son, you brought

the warmth of laughter to an old woman's heart.

Harry was surprised, because this comment matched what he suspected to be the head of the examination committee. When he finished, the letter again transformed

into a group of pixies that was especially hard to get rid of. He had to learn the hard way that all the letters from the Brotherhood contained one prank

or another.

Harry spent the next three days waiting for Tonks' reply; he grew more and more desperate each passing day. He thought with hope that she might have decided

to just come over without replying, he set to tell his aunt about her on Friday.

"Aunt Petunia," He started, "can I talk to you for a second?"

She looked at him in almost wonder, they boy did not lie when he said the growth spurt for his kind was fast. It was as if he kept in his room working out

for a month at least each time she saw him, instead of a day.

"What is it?" she said in a tight tone.

Harry replied quietly, "A friend of mine asked to stay for the weekend here, I thought, now that lady Lily is staying with me, that she can change the

room to fit us both. When I asked her, she made my room into a three-room apartment. It just needs to recharge for two hours a day, we will come down then.

Therefore, I came to ask you if she could stay."

His aunt answered snidely, "alone with a girl in your room, boy? I don't think so."

Harry was beginning to feel despair, though he did not show it, "But, aunt Petunia. Lady Lily will chaperone us, and she's an adult woman who works in

our law enforcement."

Petunia thought over it for a moment, "If that's the case, I'll allow it. Only if I see your room and it is to my satisfaction. And she's to have lunch

with us, no excuse accepted."

Harry smiled, "none present, aunt Petunia. Thank you."

Therefore, foregoing his chores for the day, Harry took his aunt to inspect his room. To her, the single room looked in better condition than the rest of

the house, but it was unnatural. Therefore, she could not ask him to leave it.

She said, "alright boy. This is acceptable. When is she to come?"

Harry answered; hope lacing his voice, "Tomorrow between 10 and 12 in the morning."

His aunt scrunched her face and said, "Just make sure she's presentable." Then she left right away.

"Yes, thank you aunt Petunia." He answered.

Harry reflected back on his training these last few days. With Godric, he already has mastered martial arts and was half way through mastering sword fighting.

According to Godric, he would be a fully qualified warrior before July at this rate.

His weapon of choice was the sword, followed closely by the staff. Godric told him that he would have his sword when he claimed his place as the millennium

warrior. If the sword found him worthy, Excalibur, A.K.A The Sword of Gryffindore will be his.

In Occlumency, Harry has mastered and was due to begin the next stage, the mind fort. It was the most basic form of mind protection against direct intrusions.

It was the method Snape was using. If Harry understood this completely, then he has just found why Snape was so bitter. This method involved him envisioning

his memories as a fort, built of walls of his worst memories. The disadvantage of that art, was that in order not to fall out of practice, one had to live

his worst memories a few times a week. That would lead anyone down the road of darkness.

Dumbledore and Voldemort use another, more advanced method called mind wrapping. It involves hiding the mind fort with a clear area, much like Occlumency.

That would help them keep their fort up just by practicing Occlumency, the checking their fort only once a year.

When Harry was discussing this with Lily, she told him that the ultimate protection from intrusions was by mind warding. That method involves applying

various wards on the mind fort; much like one would do an actual castle.

In meditation, Harry reached the second part. Where he could access his inner resting place. It was a place of pure peace and quiet. In addition, it was

the place where the Imperius charm pushed one's conscious mind when applied. Because very little things can disturb some one there. It took Lily regretfully

cursing him with a crucio to make him get out of it for the first time.

For Slytherin's book, Harry completed the first stage. Where he took a complete stock of his life and analyzed it.

He discovered that every hardship he passed was partially caused by Dumbledore, with at least forty percent involvement.

The second stage was to find out the how and why parts. And he had a feeling that he was about to find out on July first

During the reevaluating his life, Harry analyzed the times, he performed accidental magic. He came to the conclusion that his body had the ability to channel

magic better than most wizards did. This led him to ask if he could perform wandless magic, when he asked his mother she said that yes, he could, but he

had to master all the aspects of Helga's book first.

He also took time to master all the spells he came across since his first year. With Rowena's exercises, he could remember the spells much better, and grab

the theory much faster.

It was now lunchtime on Saturday, and Harry dejectedly set the table. When it was quarter to twelve, the doorbell rang. He ran to the door and opened it

only to stare in surprise at the person standing on the other side.


	7. Chapter 7

The woman that stood before Harry was breath taking. Her face had firm high cheek bones which spoke of a European ancestry in the aristocracy, as well as her aquiline nose. Her jet black hair flowed down her back in a voluminous spray and ended at the small of her back. It shone in the June sunlight and just added to the woman's beauty. Her eyes were a deep azure and her lips were full and sensual. She was dressed in a form fitting black dress, which set off her figure magnificently, showing there was a great body hidden below. Harry realized his jaw was hanging open when he saw the look of amusement in the woman's eyes and he closed his mouth quickly, although his eyes were still wide.

"Wotcher, Harry." She whispered in her warm, silky voice and Harry received his second shock of the day as he realized who this vision in front of him was.

"Tonks?" He whispered, unsure. She smiled widely and stepped forward and wrapping her hands behind Harry's neck, said

"I guess you like the real me even more than the Auror disguise then?"

Harry smiled back and nodded, wrapping his own arms about her waist and pulled her closer. Looking deeply into her eyes, he said in a low voice

"I do. I also gather by your appearance here that you are sure about your feelings?" She smiled again, somewhat shyly this time and nodded slightly. Harry smiled as well and leaned forward slightly, pressing his lips lightly against Dora's.

Dora sighed softly at the feeling of his lips upon hers and closed her eyes, deepening the kiss by pressing more firmly against Harry's and running her tongue lightly over his lower lip, asking entrance. Harry complied, opening his mouth and meeting her tongue with his own. While the kiss only lasted 30 seconds at the most, it lasted a life time for the two in front of the house. When they finally broke apart, the need for air necessitating this, Dora could see the happy smile upon Harry's face and for the first time she really took notice of how Harry looked. She had been so concerned about how Harry would react to her true form that she had looked no further than his face, but now as she drew back slightly, she realized there had been a dramatic change to Harry.

"Harry! What's happened?" She asked, startled as she examined his body not only with her eyes, but also running her hands over his wide shoulders and muscular arms. Harry smiled and blushed slightly and said

"Perhaps we should discuss this inside. I need to introduce you to my family, then we can talk in my room, okay?"

Dora Tonks nodded, still stunned and followed Harry inside, both of them, holding hands as Harry brought her before his family in the kitchen.

Harry grinned internally when he saw the reaction of his relatives to Dora when he brought her through to stand beside him. His cousin's eyes widened in surprise and his jaw hung down nearly to the table. Harry was sure that he would start drooling soon if they didn't escape the room. His Aunt and Uncle were in similar states of shock as Harry introduced Tonks.

"Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon this is my friend Dora Tonks, she is a law enforcement officer in our world and prefers to be called Tonks.

"

Seeing The Dursly's not about to make any sound soon, Harry turned to Tonks with a smirk and asked

"Shall we go up to my room so we can talk?"

Tonks smiling slightly as well, nodded and hand in hand, they walked up the stairs to Harry's room.

They stopped outside the door and Harry, turning to Tonks, said "Dora, I trust you implicitly by the feelings I have for you, but I must ask you that whatever you see in here remains between us, until I give you permission to tell others, okay?"

Without a moment's hesitation, curiosity taking hold of her, she nodded and said

"Harry you have my word I won't tell another person about anything we talk about unless you give me permission to. I would never betray you."

Harry smiled at these words and leaning over, kissed her softly and whispered, their lips just centimeters apart

"I know and that's one of the reasons why I love you."

Tonk's eyes widened and her heart leapt into her throat at those words. She threw her arms around Harry's neck and hugged him tightly, her tears of happiness dampening his shirt slightly. When she had sufficiently recovered her self control, she leaned back enough from Harry to be able to look him in the eye and said in a slightly roughened voice, due to the emotion

"I love you too Harry, with all my heart." They kissed again and with those words and that kiss there was a brilliant flash around them and they both felt a surge of magic within them. They broke apart, still holding onto each other and stared.

'Wow' Harry thought and was surprised to hear another voice in his head say 'wow doesn't cover it love'. They both reacted exactly the same way at the same time. Both of them looked at each other, completely shocked and then slowly, smiles lit their faces and they hugged again, realizing the implications.

Harry, coming to himself, reluctantly broke the embrace with Dora and, still holding Dora's hand approached the door the put his other hand upon it. In a commanding voice he said

"I solemnly swear that Nymphadora Tonks is up to no good." Dora looked at him questioningly at this remark and Harry chuckled slightly and told her of the marauders and the incantation on their map and how this incantation seemed fitting to hide what his room really looks like. With this, he opened his door and said with a flourish

"Welcome to my room!"

To say Dora was shocked was to say a Hungarian Horntail was slightly unfriendly. Her eyes went as wide as saucers and her jaw nearly did a complete imitation of Dudley's, except for the extra five chins under the first one that is. He led her gently into the room and over to a couch where Lady Lily was sitting with a smile on her face. She had felt the rush of magic outside the room and knew what it had meant. Harry led Dora over to in front of his mother and introduced her

"Mother, I would like to introduce you to my girlfriend and soul-mate, Dora Tonks. Dora, this is my adopted mother, Lady Lily. She is the embodiment of Hogwarts with the essence of my mother."

Lady Lily rose gracefully from her seat and embraced the still shocked Tonks and said

"I am pleased to meet such a wonderful companion for my son. Treat him well Tonks, the love he has to give is only been barely scratched at by what you have seen so far."

Tonks nodded, slightly in awe at being spoken to by such a being. She finally had an adequate enough grasp of the English language and asked, somewhat timidly

"Not being disrespectful or anything, but why would an embodiment of Hogwarts meld with Lily Potter's essence and become Harry's adopted mother?"

Lily smiled at this and looking fondly and somewhat proudly at Harry as he looked nervous, Lily said

"Well do you know the legend of the heir of Hogwarts?"

Tonks stood there for a moment, thinking deeply about all she knew of Hogwarts, as the term seemed familiar somehow. She then suddenly remembered where she had read the term and said

"But isn't that a myth?"

Lily, still smiling answered her by pointing at Harry and saying

"Well the myth has become reality. Harry here is the heir."

Upon this revelation on a number of different things happened. The first one was Harry going bright red, the second was Tonks fainting right beside Harry and the third was Harry's now lightning reflexes letting him catch her inches before Tonks hit the floor. Lily, finding this somewhat amusing chuckled and stood, to let Harry lay Tonks on the couch. Looking into Harry's eyes she said softly

"For now my darling son I will go and let you get better acquainted with your love. I will return later this evening. Take care darling." With these words, she drew Harry into a warm and loving hug, which Harry returned just as warmly.

Once Lady Lily had vanished, Harry returned to Tonks' side and innervated her. Her eyes opened slowly and she blinked up at Harry and he smiled down at her and kissed her softly. After breaking the kiss, Tonks smiled back and said

"So love, did I just dream that, or did it all happen?" Harry gave Tonks his lopsided grin, which always caused butterflies to rise in her stomach and replied, saying

"Well love, if you mean Lily and her little bombshell, then yes, you did hear correctly. I am the heir of the four founders. When Sirius's will is being read, just before I have to handle some matters regarding that. I've also set up a meeting to happen on that day with Narcissa Malfoy. She is seeking my help and hopefully if she is on the straight and narrow, I can help her. There are a couple of other things I need to fill you in on though before we go any further as they matter greatly in the scheme of things." Harry then proceeded to tell her of what happened in Dumbledore's office after Sirius died as well as finding out about his friends training in secret and keeping tabs on him all the previous year. He told her about how Hermione had written to him and showed her the letter with the blood signature on it, proclaiming everything she said in the letter as true. He then explained about how he found himself as the heir and the letter instructing him on needing to get married to at least 4 women in the next year. Kneeling down before Tonks and taking her hands in his, he looked into her eyes and asked

"Dora, I know I love you and I know you love me. From what Lily has said, we are soul mates and I feel so connected to you. My question to you is though is could you bear to share me with at least 3 others? In the end I was told to marry at least 7 times. I don't know if this is part of being the heir or just the founder's wishes, but I do feel compelled to follow them. I won't however just ride roughshod over your feelings if you have a problem with it and I would completely understand after learning all this if you decided not to go further with us."

Tonks was both thrown again by all Harry and what he had told her as well as how touched she was by his words and the feeling behind them. She had known before that Harry possessed internal strength of such magnitude that it astounded her that he had survived sane through all he had.

She didn't know how she would have done in similar circumstances and then to be declared the heir of Hogwarts and to be told in no uncertain terms that he needs to marry not 1 woman but 7 at least and 4 within the next year was more than she thought anyone could bear. But here Harry was, once more, looking out for the feelings of others, not his own. If she had had any doubts she loved him before, they now completely vanished.

Pulling Harry close to her and kissing him thoroughly, she said

"Harry, I love you and as long as we are together I don't really care. I know you have a big heart and a capacity to love more than 1 person, so I don't feel threatened. As long as you love me that is all I want." Harry smiled broadly at this and once more they kissed their bodies melding and the air around them glowing brilliantly. They spent most of the rest of the day getting to know each other quite well indeed.


End file.
